Antennas and Wave Propagation

Smartworld.asia Specworld.
in
Unit 1
Antenna Basics: Introduction, basic Antenna parameters, patterns, beam area, radiation
intensity, beam efficiency, directivity and gain, antenna apertures, effective height,
bandwidth, radiation efficiency, antenna temperature and antenna filed zones.
Introduction
It is a source or radiator of EM waves, or a sensor of EM waves. It is a transition device
or transducer between a guided wave and a free space wave or vice versa. It is an
electrical conductor or system of conductors that radiates EM energy into or collects
EM energy from free space. is an impedance matching device, coupling EM waves
between Transmission line and free space or vice versa.
Some Antenna Types
Wire Antennas- dipoles, loops and Helical

Aperture Antennas-Horns and reflectors
Array Antennas-Yagi, Log periodic
Patch Antennas- Microstrips, PIFAs
Principle- Under time varying conditions , Maxwells equations predict the radiation of
EM energy from current source(or accelerated charge). This happens at all frequencies ,
but is insignificant as long as the size of the source region is not comparable to the
wavelength. While Tr.lines are designed to minimize this radiation loss, radiation into
free space becomes main purpose in case of Antennas . For steady state harmonic
variation, usually we focus on time changing current For transients or pulses ,we focus
on accelerated charge The radiation is perpendicular to the acceleration. The radiated
power is proportional to the square of
. .
I L or Q V
Where
.
I = Time changing current in Amps/sec
L = Length of the current element in meters

Q= Charge in Coulombs
.
V= Time changing velocity
Transmission line opened out in a Tapered fashion as Antenna:

a) As Transmitting Antenna Here the Tr. Line is connected to source or generator at one
end. Along the uniform part of the line energy is guided as Plane TEM wave with little
loss. Spacing b/n line is a small fraction of . As the line is opened out and the
separation b/n the two lines becomes comparable to , it acts like an antenna and
ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 1
Smartzworld.com jntuworldupdates.org
Smartworld.asia Specworld.in
launches a free space wave since currents on the tr. Line flow out on the antenna but
fields associated with them keep on going. From the circuit point of view the antennas
appear to the tr. lines As a resistance Rr, called Radiation resistance
b) As Receiving Antenna Active radiation by other Antenna or Passive radiation from

distant objects raises the apparent temperature of Rr .This has nothing to do with the
physical temperature of the antenna itself but is related to the temperature of distant
objects that the antenna is looking at. Rr may be thought of as virtual resistance that does
not exist physically but is a quantity coupling the antenna to distant regions of space via a
virtual transmission .line
Reciprocity-An antenna exhibits identical impedance during Transmission or Reception,

same directional patterns during Transmission or Reception, same effective height while
transmitting or receiving . Transmission and reception antennas can be used
interchangeably. Medium must be linear, passive and isotropic(physical properties are the
same in different directions.) Antennas are usually optimised for reception or

transmission, not both.
Patterns
The radiation pattern or antenna pattern is the graphical representation of the radiation
properties of the antenna as a function of space. That is, the antenna's pattern describes
how the antenna radiates energy out into space (or how it receives energy. It is important
to state that an antenna can radiate energy in all directions, so the antenna pattern is
actually three-dimensional. It is common, however, to describe this 3D pattern with two
planar patterns, called the principal plane patterns. These principal plane patterns can be
obtained by making two slices through the 3D pattern ,through the maximum value of the
pattern . It is these principal plane patterns that are commonly referred to as the antenna
patterns
Radiation pattern or Antenna pattern is defined as the spatial distribution of a

quantity that characterizes the EM field generated by an antenna.
The quantity may be Power, Radiation Intensity, Field amplitude, Relative Phase etc.
Normalized patterns
It is customary to divide the field or power component by its maximum value and plot
the normalized function.Normalized quantities are dimensionless and are quantities with
maximum value of unity
E ( , )
Normalized Field Pattern = E ( , ) n =
E ( , ) max
Half power level occurs at those angles (,)for which E(,)n =0.707
At distance d>> and d>> size of the antenna, the shape of the field pattern is
independent of the distance
ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit
S (1, ) 3
K.Vijaya,Asst.Prof., n =
S ( , ) max
Normalized Power Pattern =
where
S ( , ) =
[E ( , ) + E

2

2
( , ) ]W m2
Z0
is the poynting vector. Half power level occurs at those angles (,)for which P(,)n
=0.5
Pattern lobes and beam widths
Pattern in spherical co-ordinate system
Beamwidth is associated with the lobes in the antenna pattern. It is defined as the angular
separation between two identical points on the opposite sides of the main lobe.The most
common type of beamwidth is the half-power (3 dB) beamwidth (HPBW). To find
HPBW, in the equation, defining the radiation pattern, we set power equal to 0.5 and
solve it for angles.Another frequently used measure of beamwidth is the first-null
beamwidth (FNBW), which is the angular separation between the first nulls on either
sides of the main lobe.

K.Vijaya,Asst.Prof.,
Pattern in Cartesian co-ordinate system
Beamwidth defines the resolution capability of the antenna: i.e., the ability of the system
to separate two adjacent targets
Examples :
1.An antenna has a field pattern given by E()=cos2 for 0o 90o . Find the Half
power beamwidth(HPBW)
E() at half power=0.707
Therefore, cos2= 0.707 at Halfpower point
i.e., =cos-1[(0.707)1/2]=33o
HPBW=2=66o
2.Calculate the beamwidths in x-y and y-z planes of an antenna, the power pattern of
which is given by sin 2 sin ;0 ,0
U ( , ) =
0; 2 , 2

soln: In the x-y plane,=/2 and power pattern is given by U(/2,)=sin
Therefore half power points are at sin=0.5, i.e., at =30o and = 150o
Hence 3dB beamwidth in x-y plane is (150-30)=120o
In the y-z plane, =/2 and power pattern is given by U(,/2)=sin2
Therefore half power points are at sin2 =0.5, i.e., at =45o and =135o
Hence 3dB beamwidth in y-z plane is (135-45)= 90o
Beam area or Beam solid angle A

Radian and Steradian:Radian is plane angle with its vertex a the centre of a circle of
radius r and is subtended by an arc whose length is equal to r. Circumference of the
circle is 2r Therefore total angle of the circle is 2 radians.
Steradian is solid angle with its vertex at the centre of a sphere of radius r, which is
subtended by a spherical surface area equal to the area of a square with side length r
Area of the sphere is 4r2. Therefore the total solid angle of the sphere is 4 steradians

1ster
steadian= (1radian)2
= (180 / )2
= 3282.8 Square degrees
The infinitesimal area ds on a surface of a sphere of radius r in spherical
coordinates(with as vertical angle and as azimuth angle) is
ds = r 2 sin dd
By defnition of solid angle ds = r 2 d
d = sin dd
Beam area is the solid angle A for an antenna, is given by the integral of the normalized
power pattern over a sphere(4 steradians)
i.e., 2
= Pn ( , )d
0 0
d = Sindd
Beam area is the solid angle through which all of the power radiated by the antenna
would stream if P(,) maintained its maximum value over A and was zero elsewhere.
i.e., Power radiated= P(,) A watts
Beam area is the solid angle A is often approximated in terms of the angles subtended
by the Half Power points of the main lobe in the two principal planes(Minor lobes are
neglected)
HPHP
Example
An antenna has a field pattern given by E()=cos2 for 0o 90o . Find the Beam area
of the pattern. Also find Approximate beam area using Half Power Beamwidths

2
=
0 0
P ( , )d
n
d = Sindd
Radiation Intensity
Definition: The power radiated from an Antenna per unit solid angle is called the
Radiation Intensity. U
Units: Watts/Steradians
Poyting vector or power density is dependant on distance from the antenna while
Radiation intensity is independent of the distance
Beam efficiency
The total beam area A consists of Main beam area M and minor lobe area m
A = M + m
M
Beam efficiency is defined by M =
A
m
And stray factor is m =
A
M +m =1
Directivity and Gain

From the field point of view, the most important quantitative information on the antenna
is the directivity, which is a measure of the concentration of radiated power in a particular
direction. It is defined as the ratio of the radiation intensity in a given direction from the
antenna to the radiation intensity averaged over all directions. The average radiation
intensity is equal to the total radiated power divided by 4. If the direction is not
specified, the direction of maximum radiation is implied. Mathematically, the directivity
(dimensionless) can be written as
U ( , ) max
D=
U ( , ) average
The directivity is a dimensionless quantity. The maximum directivity is always 1
Directivity and Beam area
2
1
P( , ) Av =
4 P( , ) Sindd
0 0
2
1
=
4 P( , )d
0 0
P( , ) max
D = 2
1
4 P( , )d
0 0
1
D= 2
1
4 P ( , )d
0 0
n
4
i.e., D =

Directivity is the ratio of total solid angle of the sphere to beam solid angle. For
4
antennas with rotationally symmetric lobes, the directivity D can be approximated as D
HP HP
Directivity of isotropic antenna is equal to unity , for an isotropic antenna Beam

area A =4
Directivity indicates how well an antenna radiates in a particular direction in
comparison with an isotropic antenna radiating same amount of power
Smaller the beam area, larger is the directivity
Gain:Any physical Antenna has losses associated with it. Depending on structure both
ohmic and dielectric losses can be present. Input power Pin is the sum of the Radiated
power Prad and losses Ploss
Pin = Prad + Ploss
The Gain G of an Antenna is an actual or realized quantity which is less than Directivity
D due to ohmic losses in the antenna. Mismatch in feeding the antenna also reduces gain
The ratio of Gain to Directivity is the Antenna efficiency factor k(dimensionless)
G = kD
0 k 1
In practice, the total input power to an antenna can be obtained easily, but the total
radiated power by an antenna is actually hard to get. The gain of an antenna is introduced
to solve this problem. This is defined as the ratio of the radiation intensity in a given
direction from the antenna to the total input power accepted by the antenna divided by 4.
If the direction is not specified, the direction of maximum radiation is implied.
Mathematically, the gain (dimensionless) can be written as
G = 4U
Pin
Directivity and Gain: Directivity and Gain of an antenna represent the ability to focus
its beam in a particular direction
Directivity is a parameter dependant only on the shape of radiation pattern while gain
takes ohmic and other losses into account
Effective Aperture
Aperture Concept: Aperture of an Antenna is the area through which the

power is radiated or received. Concept of Apertures is most simply
introduced by considering a Receiving Antenna. Let receiving antenna be a
rectangular Horn immersed in the field of uniform plane wave as shown
Let the poynting vector or power density of the plane wave be S watts/sq m
and let the area or physical aperture be Ap sq-m.If the Horn extracts all the
power from the Wave over its entire physical Aperture Ap, Power
absorbed is given by
P=SAp= (E2/Z)Ap Watts,
S is poynting vector ,
Z is intrinsic impedance of medium,
E is rms value of electric field
But the Field response of Horn is not uniform across Ap because E at
sidewalls must equal zero. Thus effective Aperture Ae of the Horn is less
than Ap A
Aperture efficiency is defined as ap = e
A
The effective antenna aperture is the ratio ofp the available power at the
terminals of the antenna to the power flux density of a plane wave incident
upon the antenna, which is matched to the antenna in terms of polarization.
If no direction is specified, the direction of maximum radiation is implied.
Effective Aperture (Ae) describes the effectiveness of an Antenna in
receiving mode, It is the ratio of power delivered to receiver to incident
power density
It is the area that captures energy from a passing EM wave
An Antenna with large aperture (Ae) has more gain than one with smaller
aperture(Ae) since it captures more energy from a passing radio wave and
can radiate more in that direction while transmitting
Effective Aperture and Beam area: Consider an Antenna with an effective

Aperture Ae which radiates all of its power in a conical pattern of beam area
2
A, assuming uniform field Ea over the aperture, power radiated is P = Ea A
e
z0
Assuming a uniform field Er in far field at a distance r, Power Radiated is

also given by Er2 2
P= r
z0
Equating the two and noting that Er=EaAe/r we get Aperture Beam area
relation 2
= Ae
At a given wavelength if Effective Aperture is known, Beam area can be

determined or vice- versa
Directivity in terms of beam area is given by 4
D=

Aperture and beam area are related by 2 = Ae
4
Directivity can be written as D = 2 Ae

Other antenna equivalent areas :
Scattering area : It is the area, which when multiplied with the incident
wave power density, produces the re-radiated (scattered) power
Loss area : It is the area, which when multiplied by the incident wave power
density, produces the dissipated (as heat) power of the antenna
Capture area: It is the area, which when multiplied with the incident wave
power density, produces the total power intercepted by the antenna.
Effective height
The effective height is another parameer related to the apertures.

Multiplying the effective height, he(meters), times the magnitudeof the
incident electric field E (V/m) yields the voltage V induced. Thus
V=he E or he= V/ E (m). Effective height provides an indication as to how
much of the antenna is involved in radiating (or receiving. To demonstrate
this, consider the current distributions a dipole antenna for two different
lengths.
If the current distribution of the dipole were uniform, its effective height
would be l Here the current distribution is nearly sinusoidal with average
value 2/=0.64(of the maximum) so that its effective height is 0.64l .It is
assumed that antenna is oriented for maximum response.
If the same dipole is used at longer wavelength so that it is only 0.1 long,
the current tapers almost linearly from the central feed point to zero at the
ends in a triangular distribution. The average current is now 0.5 & effective
height is 0.5l
For an antenna of radiation resistance Rr matched to itd load , power

delivered to load is P=V2/(4Rr), voltage is given by V=he E.
Therefore P=(he E)2/(4Rr)
In terms of Effective aperture the same power is given by
P=SAe= (E2/Z0)Ae
Equating the two,
Notes: the above calculations assume that the electric field is constant over
the antenna Z0 is the intrinsic impedance of free space = 120 or 377
Bandwidth or frequency bandwidth

This is the range of frequencies, within which the antenna characteristics
(input impedance, pattern) conform to certain specifications . Antenna
characteristics, which should conform to certain requirements, might be:
input impedance, radiation pattern, beamwidth, polarization, side-lobe level,
gain, beam direction and width, radiation efficiency. Separate bandwidths
may be introduced: impedance bandwidth, pattern bandwidth, etc.
The FBW of broadband antennas is expressed as the ratio of the upper to the
lower frequencies, where the antenna performance is acceptable.
Based on Bandwidth antennas can be classified as

1. Broad band antennas-BW expressed as ratio of upper to lower
frequencies of acceptable operation eg: 10:1 BW means fH is 10 times
greater than fL
2. Narrow band antennas-BW is expressed as percentage of frequency
difference over centre frequency eg:5% means (fH fL ) /fo is .05.
Bandwdth can be considered to be the range of frequencies on either
sides of a centre frequency(usually resonant freq. for a dipole)
The FBW of broadband antennas is expressed as the ratio of the upper to the
lower frequencies, where the antenna performance is acceptable
Broadband antennas with FBW as large as 40:1 have been designed. Such
antennas are referred to as frequency independent antennas.
For narrowband antennas, the FBW is expressed as a percentage of the
frequency difference over the center frequency
The characteristics such as Zi, G, Polarization etc of antenna does not

necessarily vary in the same manner. Some times they are critically affected
by frequency Usually there is a distinction made between pattern and input
impedance variations. Accordingly pattern bandwidth or impedance
bandwidth are used .pattern bandwidth is associated with characteristics
such as Gain, Side lobe level, Polarization, Beam area.
(large antennas)
Impedance bandwidth is associated with characteristics such as input
impedance, radiation efficiency(Short dipole)
Intermediate length antennas BW may be limited either by pattern or
impedance variations depending on application
If BW is Very large (like 40:1 or greater), Antenna can be considered
frequency independent.
Radiation Efficiency
Total antenna resistance is the sum of 5 components

Rr+Rg+Ri+Rc+Rw
Rr is Radiation resistance
Rg is ground resistance
Ri is equivalent insulation loss
Rc is resistance of tuning inductance
Rw is resistance equivalent of conductor loss
Radiation efficiency=Rr/( Rr+Rg+Ri+Rc+Rw). It is the ratio of power
radiated from the antenna to the total power supplied to the antenna
Antenna temperature
The antenna noise can be divided into two types according to its physical
source:
- noise due to the loss resistance of the antenna itself; and
- noise, which the antenna picks up from the surrounding environment
The noise power per unit bandwidth is proportional to the objects
temperature and is given by Nyquists relation
where
TP is the physical temperature of the object in K (Kelvin degrees); and
k is Boltzmanns constant (1.38x10-23 J/K
A resistor is a thermal noise source. The noise voltage(rms value) generated
by a resistor R, kept at a temperature T, is given by
Vn = 4 kTBR
Where
k is Boltzmanns constant (1.38x10-23 J/K). And
B is the bandwidth in Hz
Often, we assume that heat energy is evenly distributed in the frequency
band f . Then, the associated heat power in f is
For a temperature distribution T( , ) and radiation pattern R( , ) of the

antenna ,
Then noise temperature TA is given by
1 2
TA =
4 0 0
R (, ).T(, )sin dd
The noise power PTA received from an antenna at temperature TA can be

expressed in terms of Bandwidth B over which the antenna(and its
Receiver) is operating as
PTA = kTAB
The receiver also has a temperature TR associated with it and the total
system noise temperature (i.e., Antenna + Receiver) has combined
temperature given by
Tsys = TA + TR
And total noise power in the system is PTotal = kTsys B
Antenna Field Zones

The space surrounding the antenna is divided into three regions according to
the predominant field behaviour. The boundaries between the regions are not
distinct and the field behaviour changes gradually as these boundaries are
crossed. In this course, we are mostly concerned with the far-field
characteristics of the antennas .
Fig: Radiation from a dipole
1.Reactive near-field region: This is the region immediately surrounding

the antenna, where the reactive field dominates. For most antennas, it is
assumed that this region is a sphere with the antenna at its centre
2. Radiating near-field (Fresnel) region :This is an intermediate region
between the reactive near-field region and the far-field region, where the
radiation field is more significant but the angular field distribution is still
dependent on the distance from the antenna.
3. Far-field (Fraunhofer) region :Here r >> D and r >>
The angular field distribution does not depend on the distance from the
source any more, i.e., the far-field pattern is already well established.
------X------X------X---------
Point sources and Arrays
Unit 2 - Point Sources and Arrays
Radiation pattern
The radiation pattern of antenna is a representation (pictorial or

mathematical) of the distribution of the power out-flowing (radiated)
from the antenna (in the case of transmitting antenna), or inflowing
(received) to the antenna (in the case of receiving antenna) as a
function of direction angles from the antenna
Antenna radiation pattern (antenna pattern): It is defined for large
distances from the antenna, where the spatial (angular) distribution of the
radiated power does not depend on the distance from the radiation source
is independent on the power flow direction
Arathi R Shankar,Associate Professor, Dept of E&C, BMSCE , Blore Page 1
It is clear in Figures a and b that in some very specific directions there

are zeros, or nulls, in the pattern indicating no radiation.
The protuberances between the nulls are referred to as lobes, and the
main, or major, lobe is in the direction of maximum radiation.
There are also side lobes and back lobes. These other lobes divert power
away from the main beam and are desired as small as possible.
Pattern lobe is a portion of the radiation pattern with a local maximum

Lobes are classified as: major, minor, side lobes, back lobes
Pattern lobes and beam widths
Normalized pattern
Usually, the pattern describes the normalized field (power) values

with respect to the maximum value.
Note: The power pattern and the amplitude field pattern are the same
when computed and when plotted in dB.
3-D pattern
Antenna radiation pattern is 3-dimensional. The 3-D plot of antenna

pattern assumes both angles and varying.
2-D pattern
Usually the antenna pattern is presented as a 2-D plot, with only one
of the direction angles, or varies.
It is an intersection of the 3-D one with a given plane .Usually it is a
= const plane or a = const plane that contains the patterns
maximum.
RADIATION INTENSITY
.
The radiation intensity is total power radiated per unit solid angle and
is denoted by U and it is expressed as U= P/4.
First figure shows radiation intensity of a source and second figure is

relative radiation intensity of that source.
POINT SOURCE
A point source is a radiator that has dimensions of a point in space.
POWER PATTERN
The directional property of the antenna is often described in the form of a

power pattern. The power pattern is simply the effective area
normalized to be unity at the maximum.
Power pattern for isotropic source
Power pattern and relative power patterns of a source
Figure (a) shows power pattern of a source. Figure(b) shows relative

power pattern of a same source. Both Patterns have the same shape. The
relative power pattern is normalized to a maximum of unity
The radiated energy streams from the source in radial lines.

Time rate of Energy flow/unit area is called as Poynting vector (Power
Density)
It is expressed as .watts / square meters.
For a Point source Poynting vector has only radial component Sr

S component in and directions are zero.
Magnitude of S = Sr
Source radiating uniformly in all directions Isotropic Source.
It is independent of and .
Graph of Sr at a constant radius as a function of angle is POWER
PATTERN
Field pattern
A pattern showing variation of the electric field intensity at a constant

radius r as a function of angle( ,) is called field pattern
relation of poynting vector s and 2 electric field components of a far field
The power pattern and the field patterns are inter-related:

P(, ) = (1/)*|E(, )|2 = *|H(, )|2
P = power
E = electrical field component vector
H = magnetic field component vector
= 377 ohm (free-space impedance)
The power pattern is the measured (calculated) and plotted received
power: |P(, )| at a constant (large) distance from the antenna
The amplitude field pattern is the measured (calculated) and plotted
electric (magnetic) field intensity, |E(, )| or |H(, )| at a constant
(large) distance from the antenna s
Antenna Arrays
Antennas with a given radiation pattern may be arranged in a pattern

line, circle, plane, etc.) to yield a different radiation pattern.
Antenna array - a configuration of multiple antennas (elements)
arranged to achieve a given radiation pattern.
Simple antennas can be combined to achieve desired directional

effects.Individual antennas are called elements and the combination is
an array
Types of Arrays
1. Linear array - antenna elements arranged along a straight line.

2. Circular array - antenna elements arranged around a circular
ring.
3. Planar array - antenna elements arranged over some planar
surface (example - rectangular array).
4. Conformal array - antenna elements arranged to conform two
some non-planar surface (such as an aircraft skin).
Design Principles of Arrays
There are several array design variables which can be changed to

achieve the overall array pattern design.
Array Design Variables
1. General array shape (linear, circular,planar)
2. Element spacing.
3. Element excitation amplitude.
4. Element excitation phase.
5. Patterns of array elements.
Types of Arrays
Broadside: maximum radiation at right angles to main axis of

antenna
End-fire: maximum radiation along the main axis of antenna
Phased: all elements connected to source
Parasitic: some elements not connected to source
They re-radiate power from other elements
Yagi-Uda Array
Often called Yagi array

Parasitic, end-fire, unidirectional
One driven element: dipole or folded dipole
One reflector behind driven element and slightly longer
One or more directors in front of driven element and slightly
shorter
Log-Periodic Dipole Array
Multiple driven elements (dipoles) of varying lengths

Phased array
Unidirectional end-fire
Noted for wide bandwidth
Often used for TV antennas
Monopole Array
Vertical monopoles can be combined to achieve a variety of

horizontal patterns
Patterns can be changed by adjusting amplitude and phase of signal
applied to each element
Not necessary to move elements
Useful for AM broadcasting
Collinear Array
All elements along same axis

Used to provide an omnidirectional horizontal pattern from a
vertical antenna
Concentrates radiation in horizontal plane
Broadside Array
Bidirectional Array
Uses Dipoles fed in phase and separated by 1/2 wavelength
End-Fire Array
Similar to broadside array except dipoles are fed 180 degrees out of
phase
Radiation max. off the ends
Application of Arrays
An array of antennas may be used in a variety of ways to improve the

performance of a communications system. Perhaps most important is its
capability to cancel co channel interferences. An array works on the
premise that the desired signal and unwanted co channel interferences
arrive from different directions. The beam pattern of the array is adjusted
to suit the requirements by combining signals from different antennas
with appropriate weighting. An array of antennas mounted on vehicles,
ships, aircraft, satellites, and base stations is expected to play an
important role in fulfilling the increased demand of channel requirement
for these services
ARRAY OF POINT SOURCES
ARRAY is an assembly of antennas in an electrical and geometrical

of such a nature that the radiation from each element add up to give a
maximum field intensity in a particular direction& cancels in other
directions. An important characteristic of an array is the change of its
radiation pattern in response to different excitations of its antenna
elements.
CASE1:
2 ISOTROPIC POINT SOURCES OF SAME AMPLITUDE AND

PHASE
Phase difference =d/2*cos=2/*d/2*cos
= propagation constant i.e: 1/2*d*cos

Where d= d=2/*d = Path difference
E2 = E0 exp(j*/2)
E1 = E0 exp(-j*/2)
The total field strength at a large distance r in the direction is :E =E1+

E2= E0[exp(j*/2 +exp(-j*/2)]
Therefore: E = 2E0cos/2 ............ (*) { by trigonometry}
= phase difference B/w E1&E2 & /2= dr/2*cos
E0 =amplitude of the field at a distance by single isotropic antenna
Substituting for in (*) & normalizing

E=2E0 COS(2/*d/2*cos) Enor=COS(dr/2*cos)
for d= /2 E=COS(/2*cos)
At =/2 E=1... Point of maxima= /2(or) 3/2

At =0 E=0... Point of minima= 0 (or)
At =/3 E=1/2 3db bandwidth point= /3
CASE2:
2 ISOTROPIC POINT SOURCES

OF SAME AMPLITUDE BUT OPPOSITE PHASE
The total field strength at a large distance r in the direction is :

E =E1+ E2=E0[exp(j*/2 -exp(-j*/2)]
Therefore: E = 2jE0SIN(/2) ...............(*)

= phase difference B/w E1&E2
/2=dr/2*cos
E0 =amplitude of the field at a distance by single isotropic antenna
At k=0 E=1 Point of maxima= 0(or)
At k=0,=/2 E=0 Point of minima= /2(or)-/2
At =/3 E=1/2 3db bandwidth point= /3
END FIRE ARRAY PATTERN
Pattern multiplication:
The total far-field radiation pattern |E| of array (array pattern) consists of
the original radiation pattern of a single array element multiplying with
the magnitude of the array factor |AF|. This is a general property of
antenna arrays and is called the principle of pattern multiplication.
Uniformly excited equally spaced linear arrays
Linear arrays of N-isotropic point sources

of equal amplitude and spacing
An array is said to be linear if the individual elements of the array are

spaced equally along a line and uniform if the same are fed with
currents of equal amplitude and having an uniform phase shift along
the line
The total field E at distance point in the direction of is given by

E=1+j+ j2 + j2 +...................................+ j(n-1) (1)
Where = total phase difference b/w adjacent source
=dr*cos + =2/*d*cos +
= phase difference of adjacent source
multipliying equation (1) by j

E j = j + j2 + j3 +.................................+ jn (3)
(1)-(3)
E(1- j) = (1- jn )
E=1- jn/1- j
E = j(n-1)/2 {sin(n/2)) /sin(/2) }
If the phase is referred to the centre point of the array, then E reduces
to
E=(sin(n/2)) /sin(/2)
when =0
E=lim (sin(n/2)) /sin(/2)
0
E =n=Emax
=0 E=Emax= n . normalizing
Enorm =E/Emax =(1/n)(sin(n/2)) /sin(/2)
CASE 1: LINEAR BROAD SIDE ARRAY
An array is said to be broadside if the phase angle is such that it makes

maximum radiation perpendicular to the line of array i.e. 900&2700
For broad side array =0 & =0
Therefore =dr*cos +=dcos+0=0 = 900
therefore max= 900&2700
Broadside array example for n=4 and d=/2
By previous results we have max = 900&2700
Direction of pattern maxima:
E=(1/n)(sin(n/2)) /sin(/2)
This is maximum when numerator is maximum i.e. sin(n/2)=1

n/2= (2k+1)/2
where k=0,1,2.........
K=0 major lobe maxima
K=1 n/2= 3/2 = 3/4
Therefore dr*cos=2/*d*Cos= 3/4
cos= 3/4
=(max)minor lobe= cos-1 ( 3/4) = 41.40 or 138.60

At K=2 = cos-1 ( 5/4) which is not possible
Direction of pattern minima or nulls
it occurs when numerator=0
i.e. sin(n/2) =0 n/2= k

where k=1,2,3..................................
now using condition =0
=2k/n= k/2 dr*cos= 2/*d/2*cos

Substituting for d and rearranging the above term
cos= k/2 cos = k/2
therefore min =cos-1(k/2)
K=1 min =cos-1(1/2)= 600 or 1200
K=2 min =cos-1(1) = 00 or 1800
Beam width is the angle b/w first nulls
From the pattern we see that

Beamwidth b/w first pair of nulls =BWFN=600
Half power beam width =BWFN/ 2=300
CASE2: END FIRE ARRAY
An array is said to be end fire if the phase angle is such that it makes
maximum radiation in the line of array i.e. 00&1800
For end fire array =0 & =00 &1800
Therefore =dr*cos + = -dr
The above result indicates that for an end fire array the phase
difference b/w sources is retarded progressively by the same amount
as spacing b/w the sources in radians.
If d= /2 = -dr = - 2/ x /2= -
The above result indicates that source 2 lags behind source1 by
radians.
End fire array example for n=4 and d=/2
Direction of maxima
Maxima occurs when sin(n/2)=1
i.e./2= (2k+1)/2
where k=0,1,2.........
= (2k+1)/n dr*cos+= (2k+1)/n
cos= [(2k+1)/n ]/dr
Therefore max =cos-1 {[(2k+1)/n ]/dr}
By definition For end fire array : = -dr = -2/*d
Therefore max =cos-1 {[(2k+1)/n ]/ (-2/*d) }
For n=4, d=/2 dr= after substituting these values in above
equation & solving we get
max=cos-1 {[(2k+1)/4 +1}
Where k=0,1,2......
For major lobe maxima,
= 0=dr*cos+
=dr*cos-dr
=dr(cos-1) cosm=1
0 0
there fore m=0 or 180
Minor lobe maxima occurs when k=1,2,3......

K=1 ( ) =cos-1 {[(3)/4 +1}
max minor1
=cos-1 (7/4 or 1/4)
Since cos-1 (7/4 ) is not possible
Therefore ( ) =cos-1 (1/4)=75.5
max minor1
K=2 (max)minor2=cos-1 {[(5)/4 +1}

=cos-1 (9/4 or -1/4)
Since cos-1 (9/4 ) is not possible
Therefore
(max)minor1=cos-1 (-1/4)=104.4
Direction of nulls:
it occurs when numerator=0
i.e. sin(n/2) =0 n/2= k
where k=1,2,3..................................
Here =dr*cos+ =dr(cos-1)
dr=2/*/2=
Substituting for d and n
dr(cos-1)= 2k/n cos= k/2+1
therefore
null =cos-1(k/2+1)
k=1 , =cos-1(1/2+1) = cos-1(3/2 or 1/2)
null1
since cos-1(3/2) not exist ,
= cos-1(1/2)= 60
null1
there fore
= 60
null1
k= 2,
null2 =cos-1(2/2+1)
= cos-1(2 or 0)
since cos-1(2) not exist ,
null2 = cos-1(0)= 90
0
there fore null2 = 90
-1
k=3, null3 =cos (3/2+1) = cos-1(5/2 or-1/2)
0
since cos-1(5/2) not exist , null3 = cos-1(-1/2)= 120
0
there fore, null3 = 120
k=4 , null4 =cos-1(4/2+1) = cos-1(3 or-1)
since cos-1(3) not exist , null4 = cos-1(-1)= 1800
there fore null14= 1800
k=5 , null5 =cos-1(5/2+1) = cos-1(7/2 or-3/2)
both values doesn't exists
BWFN=60+60=1200
END FIRE ARRAY WITH INCREASED DIRECTIVITY
HANSEN&WOODYARD CONDITION:
It states that a large directivity is obtained by increasing phase change
b/w sources so that,
=- (dr +/n)
now, =dr*cos+
=dr*cos-(dr +/n)
=dr(cos-1)- /n
End fire array with Increased directivity

Example with n= 4 &d= /2
dr= 2/ * /2 = (cos-1)- /4
W.K.T major lobe occurs in the direction =00 or 1800

at 00 E=(1/n)(sin(n/2)) /sin(/2)
where = (cos-1)- /4
= (cos0-1)- /4
=- /4
therefore
E =(1/4) sin(- /2)/sin(- /8)=0.653
At 1800
E=(1/n)(sin(n/2)) /sin(/2)
where = (cos-1)- /4
= (cos180-1)- /4
=- 9/4
therefore
E =(1/4) sin(- 9/2)/sin(- 9/8)
=-0.653
MAXIMA DIRECTIONS:
by definition sin(n/2)=1 n/2= (2k+1)/2
Where k =1,2,3..............
now, = (2k+1)/n (cos-1)- /4= (2k+1)/4
there fore
cos= (2k+1)/4+5/4
K=1 cos= (3)/4+5/4=1/2
which implies =cos-1(1/2)= 600
there fore (max)minor1 = 60 0
Now E=(1/n)(sin(n/2)) /sin(/2)

where = (cos-1)- /4
= (cos60-1)- /4
=- 3/4
Now,
E =(1/4) sin(- 3/2)/sin(- 3/8)
=-0.27
therefore E = -0.27 at 600
K=2 cos= (5)/4+5/4=0 &10/4 which is not possible

which implies =cos-1(0)= 900
there fore (max)minor2 = 900

where = (cos-1)- /4
= (cos90-1)- /4
=- 5/4
Now, E =(1/4) sin(-5/2)/sin(-5/8)=0.27
therefore E = 0.27 at 900
K=3 cos= (7)/4+5/4=-1/2 &12/4 which is not possible

which implies =cos-1(-1/2)= 1200

where = (cos-1)- /4
= (cos120-1)- /4
=- 7/4
Now, E =(1/4) sin(-7/2)/sin(-7/8)= 0.653
therefore E = 0.653 at 1200
K=4 cos= (9)/4+5/4=-1 &14/4 which is not possible

which implies =cos-1(-1)= 180 0
Direction of nulls
(sin(n/2)=0 n/2= k
Where k=1,2,3,4.....
now, = 2k/n (cos-1)- /4
there fore cos= (2k/4)-5/4
K=1 cos= (1)/2+5/4=3/4 &7/4 which is not possible which
implies =cos-1(3/4)= 41.40
there fore null1 = 41.40
K=2 cos= (1)+5/4=1/4 &9/4 which is not possible which

implies =cos-1(1/4)= 75.5 0
K=3 cos= (6/4)+5/4=-1/4 &11/4 which is not possible which
implies =cos-1(-1/4)= 104.40
K=4 cos= (8/4)+5/4=-3/4 &13/4 which is not possible which
implies =cos-1(-3/4)= 75.5 0
K=5 cos= (10/4)+5/4=-5/4 &15/4
Both values are not possible
UNIT-3
The Electric Dipoles and Thin Linear Antennas
Short Electric dipole:
Any linear antenna may be considered as consisting of a large number of
very short conductors connecter in series. A short linear conductor is often
called a short dipole. A short dipole is always of finite length even though
it may be very short. If the dipole is vanishingly short it is an infinite single
dipole.
Fig 3.1: A short dipole antenna Fig 3.2: Equivalent of short

dipole antenna
Consider a short dipole as shown in figure 3.1, the length L is very short
compared to the wavelength [L<< ]. The current I along the entire length is
assumed to be uniform. The diameter d of the dipole is small compare to its
length [d<<L]. Thus the equivalent of short dipole is as shown in figure (b).
It consists of a thin conductor of length L with uniform current I and point
charges at the ends. The current and charge are related by
-------------------------------(3.1)
The fields of a short dipole:
Fig3.3: Relation of dipole to co-ordinates

Consider a dipole of length L placed coincident with the z-axis with its
center at the origin. The electric and magnetic fields due to the dipoles can
ANTENNA & PROPAGATION (06EC64)-Unit 3 Page 1

Dr. H V Kumaraswamy, Professor, RVCE, Bangalore-59
be expressed in terms of vector and scalar potentials. The relation of electric

field Electric field Er, E and E is as shown in figure3.3. It is assumed that
the medium surrounding the dipole is air.
Retardation effect:
In dealing with antennas, the propagation time is a matter of great important.
Thus if a current is flowing in the short dipole. The effect of the current is
not felt instantaneously at the point P, but only after an interval equal to the
time required for the disturbance to propagate over the distance r. This is
known as retardation effect.
When retardation effect is considered instead of writing current I as
which implies instantaneous propagation of the effect of the
current, we introduce propagation time as
Where [I] is called retarded current

c - Velocity of propagation
Fig3.3: Geometry for short dipole

For a dipole as shown in the above figure the retarded vector potential of the
electric current has only one component namely A3 and it is given by
[I] is the retarded current given by
Z= distance to a point on the conductor

I0= peak value in the time of current
0= permeability of free space = 4 x 10-7Hm-1

If the distance from the dipole is large compare to its length (r>>L) and
wavelength is large compare to the length (>>L), we can put s=r and
neglect the phase difference of the field contributions from different parts of
the wire. The integrand in (2) can then be regarded as a constant. So that (2)
becomes
The retarded scaled potential V of a charge distributed is
Where [] is the retarded charge density given by
d= infinitesimal volume element

= permittivity of free space [= 8.854 x 10-10 Fm-1]
Since the region of charge in the case of the dipole being considered is
confined to the points at the ends as in figure 3.2 equation 3.5 reduce to
But,
Substituting equation (3.7) in (3.6)
Referring the figure
Fig 3.4: Relation for short dipole when r>>L

When r>>L, the lines connecting the ends of the dipole and the point p
may be consider as parallel so that

Sub S1 and S2 in the equation 3.8
The term is negligible compare to r2 assuming r>>L
If the wavelength is much greater than the length of dipole (>>L) then,
Thus the above expression reduce to
Equation 3.4 and 3.9 express the vector and scalar potentials everywhere due
to a short dipole. The only restrictions are r>>L and >>L

These equations gives the vector and scalar potentials at a point P in terms of
the distance r to the point from the center of the dipole, the angle , the
length of the dipole L the current on the dipole and some constants.
Fig 3.5: resolution of Vector potential into Ar and A components

Knowing the vector potential A and the scalar potential V the electric and
magnetic field may then be obtained from the relations
It will be desirable to obtain E x H components in polar coordinates. The

polar coordinate components for the vector potential are
Since the vector potential for the dipole has only z components A=0 and
Ar and A are given by
In polar coordinates the gradient of V is
Expressing E in its polar coordinates components is
Sub Eqn. (3.11) (3.12)and (3.13) in (3.10)
Equating the respective component on either side we get
Since A=0 and = 0 E = 0 substituting Ar and A from (3.12)

We have,
Substituting these values in equation (3.15)
Expressing the 1st and 3rd term are one and the same
with opposite sign therefore
And
Sub in the first term we get
Magnetic Field Component: To find magnetic field component we use the

relation
For Spherical Coordinate system is given by

Since Az has only two components ie Ar and A which are given by

Ar = Az cos
A= -Az Sin
Az has no components in A direction therefore and substituting these
two values rsin A=0
Substituting these two values
Here Az is independent of
Substitute for Az value
Substituting equations (3.22) and (3.23) in the equation (3.21)

The above two equation represents the total electric and magnetic fields due
to short dipoles
When r is very large the terms and becomes negligible compare to
[Er is also negligible]
[As Hr = H =0]
Taking the ratio of E and H as in the above equation
Intrinsic impedance of free space [pure resistance]

Relation between Er, E and H
Fig 3.6 (a): Near and far field pattern of E and H components for short
dipole. (b): Near field component, Er
From the equation (3.26) and (3.27), it is clear that E and H components
are in phase in the field. The field pattern of both is proportional to sin. The
pattern is independent of so that the space pattern is doughnut shaped.
When we consider near field ( and is not neglected) for a small r, the
electric field has two components E and Er, which are both in time phase
quadrature with the magnetic field.

i.e.,
At intermediate distance E and Er can approach time phase quadrature. So

that total electric field vector rotates in a plane parallel to the direction of
propagation thus referred as cross field.
For E and H components the near field patterns are same as the far field
pattern [which is proportional to sin]
The near field pattern of Er is proportional to cos [far field Er=0]
Quasi stationary or dc case:

It refers to low frequency of operation
The retarded current is given by
E and Er can be written as [equations (3.28) (3.29) and (3.30)]
And magnetic field
At low frequency f 0 or w0, so that

Table:
Fields of Short Dipole:-
Component General Expression Far Field Quasi Stationary
0
or
Or
Alternative Expression for field E:
In case of far field [ is negligible ] , the maximum value of Electric field

is given by
Substitute
Substitute
But

Expression for power: From pointing theorem
Radiation resistance of short dipole:

Let, I = RMS value of current
PT= Total power radiated.
Rr= Radiating resistance
The average pointing vector is given by

since
The total power radiated is
Substitute E from equation (3.32)

we get
But total power radiated =I02 Rr ------- (3.35)

From Equations (3.34) and (3.35)
This gives the radiation resistance of short dipole

Field due to a thin linear antenna:

Thin antenna means its diameter is small compared to its wave length,
i.e Where d= diameter of the antenna and = wavelength
Antenna is fed at the center by a balanced two wire transmission line and
assuming sinusoidal current distribution along various length of line as
shown in figure 3.7
Figure 3.7: Approximate natural current distribution for thin linear center fed
antenna of various length.
Fig 3.8: Relation for symmetrical thin linear center-fed antenna of length L.
Relation for symmetrical thin linear center-fed antenna of length L is as
shown in figure 3.8.
The magnitude of current at any point on the antenna is given by
The retarded current is given by
The expression is used when z<0 [-ve z]

is used when z>0 [+ve z]
The total radiation field due to the antenna is obtained by considering the
antenna as made up of a series of infinitesimal dipoles of length dz and
integrating the field due to elementary dipole over the entire length. The far
field at a distance S from the infinitesimal dipole dz are

And
Since . Thus either calculate is enough

The value of the magnetic field for the entire antenna is the integral of over
the length of the antenna
Thus
Substitute the value of from equation (3.40) we get
substituting [I] from equation (3.38)
At far distance the difference between s and r can be neglected for magnitude but
can be considered for phase
[ s=r zcos for phase s = r for magnitude]
Since the above equation can be written as

The integral is in the form
For 1st integral and

For 2nd integral , , and
Multiplying by =120
Where retarded current

Case 1: If the length of antenna is /2
L= /2, the magnitude of current distribution is given by
When z=0 [i.e., The maximum value of current at the center]

When , [i.e., The minimum current at the end of
dipole]
When L = /2, the pattern factor becomes
The pattern is as shown in figure 3.9(a), it is slightly more directional

than the pattern of infinitesimal of short dipole [which is given by sin].
The beam width between half power points of /2 antenna is 780 as
compared to 900 for a short dipole
Fig 3.9: (a)Far field pattern of /2 antenna b) Far field pattern of full
wave antenna

Case 2: If the length of antenna is
For full wave antenna [L = , the magnitude of current is given by
When z=0, Imag =0 current minimum at the center.

Imag =0 (again zero)
Maximum current at
The pattern factor is given by
The pattern is as shown in figure3.8(b) The half power beam width is

470
Case 3: If the length of antenna is 3/2
The pattern factor is
Fig 3.9: Far field pattern of antenna

The pattern is as shown in figure3.9 and 3.10 It has been observed that
increasing the length up to L= increases the directivity in the H plane. For
length L> tne H field strength decreases and the major part of the radiated
energy is directed at some angle to the horizontal. For L< the radiation
pattern has no side lobes. This is key point in the design of directional array.

Fig 3.10: Far field pattern of antenna
Fig 3.11: The E-plane radiation patterns for dipoles of different lengths
The E-plane radiation patterns for dipoles of different lengths, [length

varies from /2 to 2] is as shown in Fig 3.11
Microstrip antenna:
Fig 3.12: Single Microstrip antenna
It is also called patch antennas as shown in figure3.12

One of the most useful antennas at microwave frequencies
(f > 1 GHz).
It consists of a metal patch on top of a grounded dielectric substrate.
The patch may be in a variety of shapes, but rectangular and circular are the
most common

Advantages of Microstrip Antennas:

The advantages of microstrip antenna are
Easy to fabricate (use etching and photolithography).
Easy to feed (coaxial cable, Microstrip line, etc.) .
Easy to use in an array or incorporate with other Microstrip circuit

elements.
Patterns are somewhat hemispherical, with a moderate directivity

(about 6-8 dB is typical).
Light weight, smaller size and lesser volume
Disadvantages of Microstrip Antennas:

Low bandwidth
Low efficiency
Low gain
Long wire antenna
A linear wire antenna, many wavelengths long may be regarded as an array
of /2 length but connected in a continuous linear fashion.
The long antennas are
1 V antenna
2 Rhombic antenna
3 Beverage antenna
V antenna:
It is a type of transmitting or receiving antenna for providing a low
angle beam for fixed frequency working in the HF band.`
It consists of two wires in the form of V fed at the apex.
Length of the extending from 2 to 8. The main lobe of radiation lies
along the axis of the wire.
The beam width of the main lobe is approximately equal to angle
between wires.
Due to reflection at the far end [as there is no load] a similar backward
beam is also produced. This is minimized and the forward gain is
increased by placing a similar V antenna in the plane of first V at an
odd number of quarter wavelength behind the first V antenna.
Fig 3.13: a)Calculated pattern of 2 wire with standing wave, (b) v antenna of two
such wres, c) terminated V antenna with legs 2 long and d) V antenna of
cylindrical conductors 1.25 long with measured pattern.
Rhombic antenna
The rhombic antenna is as shown in fig 3.14. It consists of four wires in the
form of a parallelogram in the horizontal plane above the earth the length of
the wire is 2 to 10.
For transmission purpose the radio frequency energy is fed through a
balanced line at one end and the resistor at the other end. In free space the
maximum gain is along the main axis and the polarization horizontal.
The antenna could be used for both transmission and reception. Because of
its simplicity it is a very popular antenna for HF transmission.
Each wire produces a main beam of radiation and a number of side lobes.
The design of rhombic antenna consists of the determination of the three
factors, the length L, the tilt angle and the height h.

The earth serves to deflect the main beam upward at some angle of
elevation. Combining with the earth plane the antenna produces a vertical
pattern with an angle of elevation .
Figure 3.14: Rhombic antenna

Advantages
It is a wideband antenna.
It is a high gain antenna and the required angle of equation of main
lobe be obtained.
Design and structure are simple.
Input impedance is constant for a range of frequency.
Disadvantages
As terminating resistance is used efficiency is less.
The width of the main lobe changes with frequency.

Folded dipole
A folded dipole antenna is formed by joining two half wave dipole at both
ends and splitting one of them in the middle. The spilt dipole is fed at the
center by a balanced transmission line as shown in figure.15.
This configuration is essentially two dipoles in parallel and therefore has the
same voltages at the ends. The radiation pattern is same as that of a single
dipole, but the input impedance is higher. Since the circuit in the two dipoles
is half of that in a single dipole antenna and the radiated power is the same,
it follows that the input impedance is four times that of a single dipole.
The input impedance [radiation resistance] for a dipole is around 73, hence
for the folded dipole with 2 arms the radiation resistance will be
4 X 73 =292 .
Fig 3.15: Folded dipole

If 3 arms are used the resistance will be 32 X 73 = 657 .
For impedance which is not a multiple of 73 (of a single dipole) the radii
of the arms is made unequal. By doing so, the thicker dipole carries more
circuit compared to the other one. A transformation ratio of 1.5 to 25 can be
achieved with only two dipoles.
The folded dipole may be considered as two short circuited quarter wave
transmission lines connected together and fed in series.
At the resonant frequency, the impedance presented at the fed point is very
high (ideally ) and hence does not affect the total impedance seen by the

feeder on either side of their frequency, the impedance falls and is reactive,
but since the Q is low. The fall is not steep and the antenna works
satisfactorily over a broad-band of frequencies.
It is used for television reception along with same parasitic elements. The
antenna than is referred as Yagi-Uda antenna

Loop Antennas
Introduction , small loop, comparison of far fields of small loop and short dipole,
loop antenna general case, far field patterns of circular loop, radiation resistance,
directivity
Introduction:
A loop antenna consists of a small conductive loop with a current circulating through it.
A loop carrying a current can generate a magnetic dipole moment. Thus, we may
consider this antenna as equivalent to a magnetic dipole antenna
Loop antennas
feature simplicity, low cost and versatility.

May have various shapes: circular, triangular, square, elliptical, etc.
are widely used in communication links up to the microwave bands(up to 3GHz)
are also used as electromagnetic (EM) field probes in the microwave bands
Classification of loops: Loop antennas are usually classified as
-electrically small - C < 0.1
-electrically large - C ~1
Where C denotes circumference for circular loops and perimeter for other loops
Small loop:
Electrically small loops of a single turn have very small radiation resistance(comparable
to their loss resistance). Their Rr can be substantially improved by adding more turns.
Multi-turn loops have better radiation resistance although their efficiency is still poor.
That is why they are used mostly as receiving antennas where losses are not so important.
The radiation characteristics of a small loop antenna can be additionally improved by
inserting a ferromagnetic core. Radio-receivers of AM broadcast are usually equipped
with ferrite-loop antennas. Such antennas are used in pagers, too.
Far fields of Small loop
The far fields of an electrically small loop antenna are dependent on the loop area but are
independent of the loop shape. When loops are small, far field patterns of circular and
square loops of same area are the same. Magnetic vector potential integrations required
for a circular loop are more complex than those for a square loop. Hence, first the square
loop is considered in the derivation of the far fields of an electrically small loop antenna
Fig:Circular and square loop of equal area d2=a2
K. Vijaya, ECE Dept., BMSCE
The square loop, located in the x-y plane and centered at the origin of coordinate axes, is
assumed to have an area of d2and carry a uniform current Io .
The square loop may be viewed as four segments, each of which represent an
infinitesimal dipole carrying current in a different direction. In the far field, the distance
vectors from the centers of the four segments become almost parallel.
Fig:Relation of square loop to co-ordinates Fig: Construction for finding far fields
of dipoles 2 and 4 of square loop
If the loop is oriented as shown, its far electric field has only an E component. To find
the far field in yz-plane it is only necessary to consider two of the four small dipoles (2 &
4) . Since the individual small dipoles 2 & 4 are non-directional in yz-plane, the field
pattern of the loop in this plane is the same as that for two isotropic point sources
carrying current in opposite direction
j j
E = E e 2 + E e
0 0
2
2
Where E 0 = electric field from individual dipole and = sin = d r sin
d r sin
It follows that E = 2jE 0 sin( )
2
The factor j indicates that the total field E is in phase quadrature with the field E0 of
individual dipole.When d<<
E = jE 0 d r sin (1)
j 60 [ I ]L sin
The far field of z-directed short dipole is given by E =
r
Where [I] is the retarded current on the dipole and r is the distance from the dipole. Substituting
this for E0 in (1),the expression for far field of loop antenna, and noting that L=d, and the area of
the loop A=d2,far field E of small loop becomes,
120 2 [I] sin A

small loop E = Far E field
r 2
The other component of the far field H can be obtained by the relation
H= E/120
[ I ] sin A
small loop H = far H field
r 2
The fields radiated by an electrically small loop antenna can be increased by adding
multiple turns. For the far fields, the added height of multiple turns is immaterial and the
resulting far fields for a multiple turn loop antenna can be found by simply multiplying
the single turn loop antenna fields by the number of turns N.
Comparison of far fields of small loop and short dipole:
The electrically small loop antenna is the dual antenna to the electrically short dipole
antenna when oriented as shown in next slide. That is, the far-field electric field of a
small loop antenna is identical to the far-field magnetic field of the short dipole antenna
and the far-field magnetic field of a small loop antenna is identical to the far-field electric
field of the short dipole antenna
Given that the radiated fields of the short dipole and small loop antennas are dual
quantities, the radiated power for both antennas is the same and therefore, the radiation
patterns are the same. This means that the plane of maximum radiation for the loop is in
the plane of the loop. When operated as a receiving antenna, we know that the short
dipole must be oriented such that the electric field is parallel to the wire for maximum
response. Using the concept of duality, we find that the small loop must be oriented such
that the magnetic field is perpendicular to the loop for maximum response. The radiation
resistance of the small loop is much smaller than that of the short dipole. If we compare
the far fields of the infinitesimal dipole and the electrically small current loop with
electric and magnetic currents, we find pairs of equivalent sources and dual sources
If
we compare the far fields of the infinitesimal dipole and the electrically small current
loop with electric and magnetic currents, we find pairs of equivalent sources and dual
sources. The infinitesimal electric and magnetic dipoles are defined as dual sources since
the magnetic field of one is identical to the electric field of the other when the currents
and dimensions are chosen appropriately. Likewise, the small electric and magnetic
current loops are dual sources.We also find from this discussion of dual and equivalent
sources that the polarization of the far fields for the dual sources are orthogonal. In the
plane of maximum radiation (x-y plane), the four sources have the following far field
polarizations.
infinitesimal electric dipole vertical polarization
infinitesimal magnetic dipole horizontal polarization
small electric current loop horizontal polarization
small magnetic current loop vertical polarization
Example 1: Resolving the small square loop with uniform current into four short dipoles,
show that the far-field pattern in the plane of the loop is a circle.
Soln:The field pattern of sides 1 and 2 of the small square loop is the product of the
pattern of 2 point sources in opposite phase separated by d is given by sin[dr/2 cos ]
and the pattern of short dipole is given by

cos or
E(1,2)=cos sin[dr/2 cos ]
For small d this reduces to
En(1,2)=[ cos2 ]
The pattern of sides 3 and 4 is the same rotated through 90o or in terms of is given by
En(3,4)=[ sin2 ]
The total pattern in the plane of the square loop is then
En()=En(1,2)+ En(3,4)= cos2 + sin2
Example2:Small-loop resistance
Using a Poynting vector integration, show that the
radiation resistance of a small loop is equal to 3204(A/2)2 where A =area of loop (m2).
Solution: 2 2 2
Sr A E max r A
Rr = = ; where
I2 ZI 2
2
4 8
A = sin 2 dd = 2 = and
0 0 3 3
120 2 IA 120 2 IA
E = sin = Emax sin or E max =
r2 r2
2
120 2 IA r 2 8
R =
K. Vijaya, ECE Dept.,r BMSCE
r
2
3 120I
2
2
4 A
Rr = 320 2 = 197C4
Therefore,
Loop antenna general case

Let the radius of the loop be a.Let the loop be located with its centre at the origin of co-
ordinate system. Let the current I be uniform and be in phase around the loop.The
circular loop can be divided into an infinite number of infinitesimal current elements.
Far Field expressions are obtained with the aid of the vector potential of the electric
current.The vector potential is first developed for a pair of short, diametrically opposite
electric dipoles of length ad. The current is confined to the loop, only A exists and
Ar=A=0. Let dA denote vector potential at point P due to the two diametrically
opposite electric dipoles of length ad. dM
dA = - - (1)
4 r
where dM is the current moment due to one pair of diametrically opposite infinitesimal
dipoles of length ad.
Fig: Cross section of the loop in XZ-plane
2a=distance between two dipoles

= phase shift constant=2/ cos, since in the direction =0 ,
current moment= [I].dL =[I]adcos, [ I] is the current
adis the length

In xz-plane or =0 plane, the component of the retarded current moment due to one
dipole is [I]adcos ,where [I]=Ioej[t-(r/c)] The resultant moment dM at a large
distance due to diametrically opposite dipoles is dM=2j [I]adcos sin(/2) where
=2a cos sin radians.
Substituting this value of dM in the expression for dA ,
dM 2 j[ I ]a cos [sin( a cos sin )]

dA = = d (2 )
4r 4r
j[ I ]a [sin(a cos sin )]cosd

and A = dA = 0
(3)
0 2r
j [ I ]a
A = J 1 ( a sin ) where J 1 is Bessel function of first order
2r
and of argument ( a sin )
Far field of loop has only component given by
A [ I ]a
E = = jA = J 1 ( a sin ) ; (4)
t 2r
substituting = 4 10 7 H / m, and noting that
c 2
= , = 2f and =
f
60 [ I ]a
E = J 1 (a sin ) (5)
r
60 [ I ]a
E = J 1 ( a sin ) and
r
E [ I ]a Far field for all loops
H = = J 1 ( a sin )
120 2r
For loop of given size ,a is constant and the shape of the far field pattern is given as a
function of by J (C sin )
1
where C is the circumference of the loop in wavelengths

2
C = a = a

Fig:Far-field patterns of circular loop antennas with uniform current
The value of sin ranges in magnitude from zero to unityHence when =90o , the relative
field is J 1 (C )
and as decreases to zero the values of relative field vary in accordance with the J1
curve from J 1 (C ) to zero
Fig:Rectified first order Bessel curve for patterns of loops
Radiation resistance
Average poynting vector for far field is given by
1 15 ( aI ) 2
J ( a sin ) (6 )
2
S = H Z =
r i
0 2
1
2 r
The total power P is the integral of S over a large sphere
2
2
P = srds = 15 ( aI 0 ) J1 ( a sin )sin dd (7 )
2 2
0 0

P = 30 2 ( aI 0 ) J12 ( a sin )sin d (7a )
2
using relation
2x
1
J ( x sin )sin d = J ( y )dy
2
1 2
0 x0
where y is any function
2 a
P = 30 aI J 2 ( y )dy
2 2
0
0
Equating this to P =
I o2
Rr,
2
And putting a=C, gives
2C
Rr = 60 C J2 ( y)dy
2

0
This is the radiation resistance for single turn circular loop with uniform in-phase current
and of any circumference C 2 C
When loop is very large (C >=5), we can approximate J 2 ( y )dy 1
0
and Rr= 602 C =592 C =3720a/.

For values of C between 1/3 and 5 the integral in the below equation needs to be
evaluated using tabulated functions .
2C
Rr = 60 C J2 ( y)dy 2
(8)
0
Directivity of circular loop antennas with uniform current :

Directivity D of an antenna is the ratio of maximum radiation intensity to average
radiation intensity . Maximum radiation intensity is given by r2 times (6)
Average radiation intensity is given by (7a) divided by 4
60 2 ( aI o2 ) J1 (a sin )
2
D =
30 2 (aI 0 ) J12 (a sin )sin d
2

[ (
2C J12 C sin
max
)]
=
2C
J 2 ( y )dy
0 for Directivity of a circular loop with uniform in phase current
This is Fosters expression
of any circumference C .For small loops, C , and expression for directivity reduces
to D=1.5sin2=1.5 since field is maximum for =90o. This is same as for short electric
dipole. For large loops, C 5, and expression for reduces to
D = 2C J1 (C sin )
2
For any loop with C 1.84, from Fig max value of

directivity for C 2, is 0.68 C
J (C sin ) is 0.582 and
1
Fig: Relation between Directivity D and loop circumference C
Quantity General Expression(any Small loop A<2/100 Large loop

size loop) C 5
Far field 60 [I]C 120 2 [I]sin A Same as general

E J 1 (C sin )
r r 2
Far field Same as general

H [I]C J (C
1 sin ) [I]sin A
2r r 2
Radiation 2C 592 C =3720a/

R r = 60 C J 2 (y)dy
2 2
resistance A
320 4 2 = 197C 4
0

Directivity [ (
2C J12 C sin )] 1.5 4.25 a/=0.68 C
2C
J 2 ( y ) dy
0
Table:Formulas for circular loop with uniform current
Ref Book:Antennas for all applications by

JD Kraus,RJ Marhefka,AS Khan,3rd edition,sie
----------x----------
VTU E-learning Notes Antennas and Propagation
Sub:
Code: 06EC64
Poornima.G, Associate Professor, Dept of E&C, BMSCE, Blore
Unit IV: slot antenna, balinets principle and complementary antennas, impedance of
complementary and slot antennas
SLOT ANTENNA:
These antennas find applications where low profile or flush installations are required.
eg High Speed Aircraft.Relation of slot and their complimentary dipole forms.Any
slot has its complementary form in wires or strips.Pattern and impedance data can be
used to predict the pattern and impedance of corresponding slots. Two resonant /4
stubs connected to two wire transmission line form inefficient radiator.The two wires
are closely spaced and carry currents of opposite phase so that the fields tend to
cancel.The end wires carry currents in the same phase but they are too short to radiate
efficiently.Hence enormous current is required to radiate appreciable amount of
power. /2 slot cut in a flat metal sheet. Currents are not confined to the edges but
spreads out of the sheet.Radiation occurs equally from both sides of the sheet.
Slot antenna can be energized with coaxial transmission line. They are Omni
directional microwave antennas. Feature gain around the azimuth with horizontal
polarization.
Waveguide slot antennas, usually with an array of slots for higher gain, are used at
frequencies from 2 - 24 GHz. Simple slotted-cylinder antennas are more common at
the UHF and lower microwave frequencies where the size of a waveguide becomes
unwieldy. They are simple, rugged, and fairly easy to build. A thin slot in an infinite
ground plane is the complement to a dipole in free space. The slot is a magnetic
dipole rather than an electric dipole. Radiation from a vertical slot is polarized
horizontally.
A vertical slot has the same pattern as a horizontal dipole of the same dimensions.
A longitudinal slot in the broad wall of a waveguide radiates just like a dipole
perpendicular to the slot.
Poornima.G, Associate Professor, Dept of E&C, BMSCE 1
The slot is a magnetic dipole rather than an electric dipole. Radiation from a vertical
slot is polarized horizontally. A vertical slot has the same pattern as a horizontal
dipole of the same dimensions. A longitudinal slot in the broad wall of a waveguide
radiates just like a dipole perpendicular to the slot. A waveguide slot antenna has a
vertical row of slots along the length of a vertical waveguide. The array of slots
increases the gain by flattening the vertical beam.Since the slots are oriented
vertically along the guide, the polarization is horizontal.A comparable dipole antenna
would be a stack of horizontal dipoles.
Increasing the number of slots provides more gain but flattens the beam into a
narrower elevation angle.Since a slot in one side of the physical waveguide does not
radiate uniformly on both sides like a theoretical slot in infinite plane.An identical
row of slots is added on the far side of the waveguide to make the radiation pattern
more uniform.
Design of an antenna array involves a number of details:

Cutting the elements to resonance.
Spacing the elements properly.
Splitting the power to distribute to the elements.
feeding the elements in phase through a harness of transmission lines.
Providing a mounting structure for each element.
For traditional arrays, each of these items may be attacked separately, but the
waveguide slot antenna combines them all into a single piece of waveguide.we must
find a set of dimensions that satisfies all the requirements simultaneously.
A longitudinal slot cut into the wall of a waveguide interrupts the transverse current
flowing in the wall, forcing the current to travel around the slot, which induces an
electric field in the slot.The position of the slot in the waveguide determines the
current flow.That is the position determines the impedance presented to the
transmission line and the amount of energy coupled to the slot and radiated from the
slot. The current in the walls of the guide must be proportional to the difference in
electric field between any two points. A slot in the exact center of the broad wall of
the waveguide will not radiate at all. Since the electric field is symmetrical around the
center of the guide and thus is identical at both edges of the slot. As the slot is
positioned away from the centerline, the difference in field intensity between the
edges of the slot is larger, so that more current is interrupted and more energy is
coupled to the slot, increasing radiated power.
As we approach the sides of the waveguide,the field is very small, since the sidewalls
are short circuits for the electric field.The induced current must also be small;
longitudinal slots far from the center or in the sidewall will not radiate significantly.
However, angled slots in the sidewalls can be effective radiators. From the point of
view of the waveguide, the slot is a shunt impedance across the transmission line, or
an equivalent admittance loading the transmission line (admittance is the reciprocal of
impedance). Slots further from the centerline of the guide present a larger admittance
(lower impedance) to the transmission line.When the admittance of the slot (or
combined admittance of all the slots) equals the admittance of the guide, then we
have a matched transmission line, or low VSWR.
In a circular waveguide, the point of maximum electric field is needed to be located to

make a slot antenna .In a rectangular waveguide, the maximum electric field is
conveniently located at the centerline of the broad wall, while in circular guide the
maximum electric field is on a ine through the center but may be oriented in any
direction. The slots are resonant so that they provide a resistive load to the
(waveguide) transmission line.It is desirable for an omni directional antenna to radiate
in a horizontal (azimuth) plane. This is achieved by feeding all the slots in phase.
The radiation pattern may be tilted upward or downward (visualize a shallow cone)
by changing the phasing of the slots, if desired. So we would require a mechanism to
fix the alignment of the electric field in the circular waveguide, and to keep it from
rotating when encountering a discontinuity such as a slot. This difficulty makes
rectangular waveguide much more attractive for slot antennas. The slots are fed in
phase by spacing their centers at electrical half-wavelength intervals along the
waveguide. Far field is produced by three sources one at the slot of strength 1sint
Two at the edges of the sheet with a strength ksin(t-) , where k1 and gives the
phase difference of the edge sources with respect to the source 1 at the slot.
The relative field intensity is
E=sint+ ksin(t--)+ksin(t-+) where =(/)L cos
By expansion and rearrangement
E=(1+2kcos cos )sin t (2k sin cos )cos t
|E|= (1+2kcos cos )2 (2k sin cos )2
|E|= 1+4kcos cos
Maxima and minima occurs when =n .
Babinet Principle:
To find complementary impedances.
It states (in optics) that when a field behind a screen with an opening is added to the field
of a complementary structure (that is a shape covering the screen hole), then the sum is
equal to the field where there is no screen.
The end result of practical interest for antenna engineers is the following formula:
Zmetal Zslot = 2 /4
Zmetal and Zslot are input impedances of the metal and slot radiating pieces.
is the intrinsic impedance of the media in which the structure is immersed.
Zslot is not only the impedance of the slot, but can be viewed as the
complementary structure impedance (a dipole or loop in many cases).
In addition, Zmetal is often referred to as Zscreen were the screen comes from the optical
definition.
Eta or intrinsic impedance, = /
Let a perfectly absorbing field screen be placed in plane A.In plane B there is a region
of shadow .Let the field behind this screen be some function f1 of x, y and z.
Fs = f1(x,y,z)
If the screen is replaced by its complementary screen.The field behind is given by
Fcs= f2(x,y,z)
With no screen present the field Fo= f3(x,y,z)
Then Babinets principle asserts that at the same point x1, y1, z1,
Fs+ Fcs= Fo
IMPEDANCE OF COMPLEMENTARY SCREEN
Vi Vr Vt
Yo Y1 Yo
Consider the infinite transmission line of characteristics impedance Z0 or admittance

Y0 = 1/ Z0. Neglecting impedance of the admittance
Y1=I/V
Y is same for any square section of the sheet.The field intensities of the wave
reflected and transmitted normally to the screen are Er and Et.Let the medium
surrounding the screen be free space.It has a characteristics admittance Y0 which is a
pure conductance G0.
Y0=1/Z0=1/377=G0
The ratio of the magnetic to electric field intensity of any plane traveling wave in free
space has the valve
Y0=Hi/Ei=-Hr/Er=Ht/Et
The transmission coefficient for the voltage of transmission line is
Vt/Vi=2Y0/2Y0+Y1
The transmission coefficient for the electric field is
Et/Ei=2Y0/2Y0+Y1
If the original screen is replaced by the complimentary screen with an admittance
Et/Ei=2Y0/2Y0+Y2
Applying Babinets principal we have
Et/Ei+Et=1
Therefore
2Y0/2Y0+Y1 + 2Y0/2Y0+Y2=1
We obtain Bookers result
Y1Y2=4Y02
Z1Z2=Z02/4 or Z1Z2=Z0/2
For free space

Z0=376.7
Z1=35476/Z2
IMPEDANCE OF SLOT ANTENNAS
Let a generator be connected to the terminals of the slot.The driving point impedance
Zs at the terminal is Vs/Is.Let Es and Hs be the electric and magnetic fields of the slot
at any point P. Then Vs at the terminal FF is given
Lim c1 Es dl
Current Is of the slot is given by 2 lim c2 Hs dl
Let the generator be connected to the terminals of the dipole. The driving point
impedance
Zd= Vd/Id
Let Ed and Hd be the electric and magnetic fields of the slot at any point P.
The terminal voltage at the dipole is Vd =lim c2 Ed dl
and current is Id= 2 lim c2Hd dl
However lim c2 Eddl=Z0 lim c2 HS dl and lim c1Hddl = 1/z0 lim c1 Es dl
Z0=intrinsic impedance of surrounding medium
Vd=Z0/2*Is and Vs= Z0/2*Id
Multiplying Vd and Vs we have
VdVs/IdIs=Zo2/4
ZsZd=Zo2/4 or Zs=Zo2/4Zd
For free space

Z0=376.7,
Zs=3547/Zd
Impedance of the slot is propositional to admittance of the dipole
Zs=35476/Rd+jXd
=35476/Rd2+Xd2(Rd-jXd)
Full Dipole
/2 Dipole
/2 Slot
L=/2
L=/2
D=0 w=0
Z =73+J42.5
Z=363- J211
If the dipole antenna is inductive the slot is capacitative. The impedance of

infinitesimal thin /2 antenna is 73+j42.5 .Therefore the terminal impedance of the
infinitesimally thin /2 slot antenna L=0.5 and L/w=infinity is
Z1=35476/73+j42.5=363-j211
Resonant /2 Dipole Resonant /2 Slot

L=0.45 L=0.45
D=L/100=0.005 W=2D=0.01
Z =67+J0.0 Z =530+J0.0
A cylindrical antenna with length diameter ratio of 100 is resonant when the length is
about 0.475 .The terminal impedance is resistive and equal to about 67 .
The terminal resistance of the complementary slot antenna is then
Z1=35476/67=530+j0
Full Dipole Full Slot

L=0.925 L=0.925
D=L/28=0.033 W=2D=0.066
Z =710+J0.0 Z =50+J0.0
The complementary slot has a length L=0.475 same as dipole but width twice the
diameter of the cylindrical dipole.The width of complementary dipole is 0.01
A cylindrical dipole with an L/D ratio of 28 and length of about 0.925 has a terminal
resistance of about 710+j0 .The terminal resistance of the complementary slot is
then 50+j0 .
The bandwidth or selectivity characteristics of the slot antenna are same as for the
complementary dipole.Smaller L/w ratio increases the bandwidth of the slot antenna.
Increasing the thickness of dipole (smaller L/D) increases the bandwidth.
Sub:Antennas and Propagation

Code: 06EC64
Poornima.G, Associate Professor, Dept of E&C, BMSCE, Blore
Unit 7: RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION: Introduction, Ground wave propagation, free space
propagation, groundreflection, surface wave.
RADIO PROPAGATION
What is Radio?
Radio is a Transmitter or a Receiver. The Radio Transmitter induces electric and
magnetic fields. The electrostatic field Components is 1/d3, induction field components
is 1/d2 and radiation field components is 1/d.The radiation field has E and B
Component. Surface area of sphere centered at transmitter, the field strength at distance
d = EB 1/d2.
Two main factors affect signal at the Receiver. One is distance (or delay) that results in
path attenuation, second is multipath that results in Phase differences
Green signal travels 1/2 farther than Black to reach receiver, who sees Blue. For 2.4
GHz, (wavelength) =12.5cm.
Your ability to work with radio is based on 4 factors:
1. Your skill as a radio operator ( knowing your regs. etc..);

2. Your equipment and how you use it;
3. The antennas you use;
4. Understanding radio wave propagation.
Poornima.G,Associate Professor,BMSCE,Blore 1
Antennas:
The antennas are the transducers. The transmitting antenna changes the
electrical energy into electromagnetic energy or waves. The receiving
antenna changes the electromagnetic energy back into electrical
energy.These electromagnetic waves propagate at rates ranging from
150kHz to 300GHz.
POLARIZATION:
The polarization of an antenna is the orientation of the electric field with

respect to the Earth's surface and is determined by the physical structure
of the antenna and by its orientation.Radio waves from a vertical antenna
will usually be vertically polarized and that from a horizontal antenna
are usually horizontally polarized.
PROPAGATION
Propagation means how radio waves travel from one point A to another point B.
What are the events that occur in the transmission path and how they affect the
communications between the points?
Electromagnetic Waves (EM waves) are produced when the electrons in a conductor
i.e antenna wire are made to oscillate back and forth. These waves radiate outwards from
the source at the speed of light(300 million meters per second). Electromagnetic Waves
are of two types (i)Light Waves (waves we see) (ii)Radio Waves (waves we hear).Both
of these EM Waves differ only in frequency and wavelength. EM waves travel in straight
lines, unless acted upon by some outside force. They travel faster through a vacuum than
through any other medium. As EM waves spread out from the point of origin, they
decrease in strength in what is described as an "inverse square relationship".
Electric
Field, E
Direction of
Propagation
Magnetic
Field, H
The two fields are at right-angles to each other and the direction of propagation is at
right-angles to both fields. The Plane of the Electric Field defines the Polarisation of the
wave.
The radio waves can further be classified as Transverse and longitudinal. The Transverse
Waves Vibrates from side to side;i.e, at right angles to the direction in which they travel
for eg:A guitar string vibrates with transverse motion.
EM waves are always transverse.
For Longitudinal radio waves vibrations are parallel to the direction of propagation.
Sound and pressure waves are longitudinal and oscillate back and forth as vibrations are
along or parallel to their direction of travel
Factors affecting the propagation of radio wave are

(i)Spherical shape of the earth:-For Free Space RW travel in straight line. But
communication on the earth surface is limited by distance to horizon and requires change
in propagation.
(ii)Atmosphere-Height of about 600km.Is divided into layers. RW near the surface is
affected by troposphere. Higher up RW is influenced by ionosphere.
(iii)Interaction with the objects.
Atmosphere:-
Is divided into Troposphere(earths surface to about 6.5 mi), Stratosphere(extends from
the troposphere upwards for about 23 mi), Ionosphere(extends from the stratosphere
upwards for about 250mi) Beyond this layer is Free Space.
The ionosphere is the uppermost part of the atmosphere and is ionized by solar radiation.
Ionization is the conversion of atoms or molecules into an ion by light (heating up or
charging) from the sun on the upper atmosphere. Ionization also creates a horizontal set
of stratum (layer) where each has a peak density and a definable width or profile that
influences radio propagation. The ionosphere is divided into layers.
About 120 km to 400 km above the surface of the Earth is the F layer.It is the top most
layer of the ionosphere. Here extreme ultraviolet (UV) (10-100 nm) solar radiation
ionizes atomic oxygen (O). The F region is the most important part of the ionosphere in
terms of HF communications.The F layer combines into one layer at night, and in the
presence of sunlight (during daytime), it divides into two layers, the F1 and F2.The F
layers are responsible for most skywave propagation of radio waves, and are thickest and
most reflective of radio on the side of the Earth facing the sun. The E layer is the middle
layer, 90 km to 120 km above the surface of the Earth. This layer can only reflect radio
waves having frequencies less than about 10 MHz. It has a negative effect on frequencies
above 10 MHz due to its partial absorption of these waves.At night the E layer begins to
disappear because the primary source of ionization is no longer present. The increase in
the height of the E layer maximum increases the range to which radio waves can travel by
reflection from the layer. The D layer is the innermost layer, 50 km to 90 km above the
surface of the Earth. when the sun is active with 50 or more sunspots, During the night
cosmic rays produce a residual amount of ionization as a result high-frequency (HF)
radio waves aren't reflected by the D layer.The D layer is mainly responsible for
absorption of HF radio waves, particularly at 10 MHz and below, with progressively
smaller absorption as the frequency gets higher.The absorption is small at night and
greatest about midday. The layer reduces greatly after sunset. A common example of the
D layer in action is the disappearance of distant AM broadcast band stations in the
daytime.
Radio Propagation Modes:
RADIO
WAVES
SPACE GROUND
SKY REFLECTED DIRECT SURFACE
Ground Wave Propagation:-
Propagation of EM wave near earth surface (including troposphere).When the

Transmit and Receive antenna are on earth there can be multiple paths for
communication.If the Transmit and Receive antenna are in line of sight (LOS) then
direct path exist. The propagating wave is called direct wave. When EM wave
encounters an interface between two dissimilar media, a part of energy will flow
along the interface Known as Surface Wave. At LF and MF this is predominant mode
of energy transfer for vertically polarized radiation. Interaction with the objects on
ground will manifest as, Reflection, Refraction, Diffraction, Scattering.Waves are
collectively called as Space Wave.
FREE SPACE:
Implies an infinite space without any medium or objects that can interact with the EM
wave. Antenna is kept in free space and radiation fields are in the form of spherical
waves with angular power distribution given by the antenna pattern. It assumes far-
field (Fraunhofer region) d >> D and d >> , where D is the largest linear
dimension of antenna, is the carrier wavelength. With no interference and
obstructions. The received power at distance d is
Pr=K Pt / d2
where Pt is the transmitter power in Watts, a constant factor K depends on antenna

gain, a system loss factor, and the carrier wavelength.
Pr=PtGtGr 2 / (4R)2
Where Pt=Transmit power, Gt=Transmit gain antenna, Gr=Receive gain antenna
Transfer of electromagnetic energy from transmit antenna to receive antenna take

place in a straight line path such communication link is called line of sight link.
The factor [ / (4R)]2 is due propagation and is called free space path loss.It
represents the attenuation of the signal due to the spreading of the power as function
of distance are R.In decibel units the path loss is expressed as:
PL=10log10(4R/ )2 dB
Ground Reflection:
In LOS model, the assumption is that there is only one path for propagation of EM
Wave from transmit antenna to receive antenna. The two antennas are kept in free
space with no other objects intersecting radiation from transmitter antenna.If two
antennas are situated close the ground due to discontinuity in the electrical properties
at the air ground interface any wave that falls on the ground is reflected.The amount
of reflection depending on factors like angle of incidence, Polarization of wave,
Electrical Properties of the Ground i.e conductivity and dielectric constant, the
frequency of the propagating wave. Thus, the field at any point above the ground is a
vector sum of the fields due to the direct and the reflected waves.
.
Direct Wave:-
It is limited to line-of sight transmission distances .The limiting factors are antenna
height and curvature of earth. The Radio horizon is about 80% greater than line of
sight because of diffraction effects. A Part of the signal from the transmitter is
bounced off the ground and reflected back to the receiving antenna.If the phase
between the direct wave and the reflected wave are not in phase can cause problems
Detune the antenna so that the reflected wave is too weak to receive
To compute the fields of a transmit antenna above an imperfect ground.Used to

design of communication links.To select the locations of the transmit and receive
antennas and their patterns.Consider a transmit antenna located at point P at a height
ht.Receive antenna located at point Q at a height hr from the surface of the ground.
Let the horizontal distance between the two antenna be d.
The electromagnetic wave from transmit antenna can reach the receive antenna by
two possible paths (a) direct path (b) ground reflected path. The total electric field at
the field point Q is given by the vector sum of the electric field due to the direct wave
and ground reflected wave.
Assumptions:-
1. The transmit antenna and the field points are located in the y-z plane.
2. The transmit antenna is an infinitesimal dipole oriented along the x-axis.
The electric field is of infinitesimal dipole oriented along the x-axis is given by
E = -jk(I0 dl/4)(e-jkR/R)(acoscos-asin)
- R is the distance from the antenna to the field point.
In the y-z plane, =90o . Since cos90o = 0. The -component of the electric field is
zero. The -component of the electric field at Q due to the direct wave is given by
E1= -jk(I0 dl/4)(e-jkR1/R1)

The field at Q also has a contribution from the wave that travels via the reflected path
PXQ. The location of the point of reflection X depends on ht, hr, and d.At X the
incident and reflected rays satisfy snells law of reflection (angle of incidence is equal
to angle of reflection). The incident ray PX the reflected ray XQ and the normal to
the surface are all contained in the y-z plane. The y-z plane is also known as the plane
of incidence. The incident field at X is given by
Ei= -jk(I0 dl/4)(e-jkR'2/R'2)
- R'2 is the distance from the transmitter to X and the incident E field vector is
perpendicular to the plane of incidence. At X the reflection co-efficient , is
given by
=Er/Ei
= (sin- (r-j )-cos2))/ sin+ (r-j )-cos2)
Electric field is perpendicular to the plane of incidence.At Q is given by
E = E1+E2
E = jk I0 dl/4(e-jkR1/R1 + e-jkR2/R2)
Field point Q is far away from the transmitter R2R1.Total electric field
E = E1+E2
E = jk (I0 dl/4)(e-jkR1/R1) (1+ e-jk(R2 R1))
A product of the free space field and an environmental factor, F given by
F = (1+ e-jk(R2 R1))
The total field at Q due to an infinitesimal dipole at (0, 0, ht) oriented along the z-
direction.The electric field of a z-directed infinitesimal dipole is
E= ajk(I0 dlsin/4)(e-jkR1/R1)
Electric field is parallel to the plane of incidence
The electric field is parallel to the plane of incidence and the reflection coefficient,
at X is given by
= ((r-j )sin- (r-j )-cos2) / ((r-j )sin+ (r-j )-cos2)
The total field at point Q is given by
E= jk(I0 dlsin/4)(e-jkR1/R1) F
Where F = (1+ e -jk(R2 R1) )
R1 = d2 +(hr- ht)2 d1+( hr- ht/d)2
For dhr and dht
Using the first two significant terms in the binomial expansion of 1+x, 1+x1+x/2
for x1;
R1 d[1+1/2*( hr- ht/d)2]
R2 d[1+1/2*( hr+ ht/d)2]
The path difference R2- R1 is given as R2- R1= 2 hr ht/d
For (hr ht/d);
=k(R2- R1)=4 hr ht/d
The path difference is small so that sinxx and cosx1 ;
e-jk(R2 R1)=cos()-jsin()
1-jk2 hr ht/d
For low angle of incidence -1
F=F=F jk2 hr ht/d
Taking into account the ground reflection, the power received by the receive antenna
can be written as
Pr=PtGtGr 2 / (4R)2 F2
For hr and ht small compared to d

R1d
Therefore the received power is approximately given by
PrPtGtGr (hr ht)2/d4
For large d the received power decreases as d4. This rate of change of power with
distance is much faster than that observed in the free space propagation condition.
Taking into account the ground reflection, the power received by the receive antenna
can be written as
Pr=PtGtGr 2 / (4R)2 F2
For hr and ht small compared to d
R1d
Therefore the received power is approximately given by
PrPtGtGr (hr ht)2/d4
SURFACE WAVE
Travels directly without reflection on ground. Occurs when both antennas are in LOS
Space wave bend near ground follows a curved path. Antennas must display a very
low angle of emission. Power radiated must be in direction of the horizon instead of
escaping in sky.A high gain and horizontally polarized antenna is recommended.
If dipole and the field points are on the surface of the earth but separated by a
distance d, We have R2= R1=d and =0
If ground has finite conductivity (typically 10-3S/m-30*10-3S/m)
then = -1,
The EF due to the direct and ground reflected wave will cancel each other.The EF due
to the direct and ground reflected wave is also known as surface wave.Surface wave
constitute the primary mode of propagation for frequencies in the range of few KHz-
several MHz.In AM broadcast application, A vertical monopole above the ground is
used to radiate power in the MW frequency band.The receivers are placed very close
to the surface of the earth and hence they receive the broadcast signal via surface
wave.Achieve Propagation over hundreds of kilometers.Attenuation factor of the
surface wave depends on
1. Distance between the transmitter and receiver.
2. The frequency of the electrical properties of the ground over which the ground
propagates. At the surface of the earth the attenuation is also known as the ground
wave attenuation factor and is designated as Asu
The numerical distance p=(R/)cosb, where b is the power factor angle
b=tan-1( r+1/)
Where R is the distance between the transmit and receive antennas and is given as
=/0
For r the power factor angle is nearly zero and the ground is almost resistive.
For a 1MHz wave propagating over a ground surface with
=12*10-3S/m and r=15
the valve of is 215.7 and is much greater than r.
The power factor angle is 4.250 . At higher frequency 100MHz the valve of is 2.157
and power factor angle becomes 82.320
For large numerical distance the attenuation factor decreases by a factor of 10 for
every decade i.e 20dB/decade.Thus attenuation is inversely proportional to p and R.
The electric field intensity due to the surface wave is proportional to the product of
Asu and e-jkR/R. The EF due to the surface wave at large distance from vertically
polarized antenna is inversely propositional to the surface of the distance or the power
is inversely propositional to R4.
The EF of a vertically polarized wave near the surface of the earth have a forward tilt.
The magnitude of the wave tilt depends on the conductivity and permittivity of the
earth. The horizontal component is smaller than the vertical component and they are
not in phase. The EF is elliptically polarized very close to the surface of the earth.
UNIT 7
DIFFRACTION
DIFFRACTION is the bending of the wave path when the waves meet an obstruction. The
amount of diffraction depends on the wavelength of the wave. Higher frequency waves are rarely
diffracted in the normal world. Since light waves are high frequency waves, they are rarely
diffracted. However, diffraction in sound waves can be observed by listening to music. When
outdoors, behind a solid obstruction, such as a brick wall, hear mostly low notes are heard. This
is because the higher notes, having short wave lengths, undergo little or no diffraction and pass
by or over the wall without wrapping around the wall and reaching the ears. The low notes,
having longer wavelengths, wrap around the wall and reach the ears. This leads to the general
statement that lower frequency waves tend to diffract more than higher frequency waves.
Broadcast band(AM band) radio waves (lower frequency waves) often travel over a mountain to
the opposite side from their source because of diffraction, while higher frequency TV and FM
signals from the same source tend to be stopped by the mountain.
Diffraction, results in a change of direction of part of the wave energy from the normal line-of-
sight path making it possible to receive energy around the edges of an obstacle. Although
diffracted RF energy is usually weak, it can still be detected by a suitable receiver. The principal
effect of diffraction extends the radio range beyond the visible horizon. In certain cases, by using
high power and very low frequencies, radio waves can be made to encircle the Earth by
diffraction.
Mechanism for diffraction

Diffraction arises because of the way in which waves propagate; this is described by
the Hugyens-Fresnel Principle and the principle of superposition of waves. The propagation of
a wave can be visualized by considering every point on a wavefront as a point source for a
secondary spherical waves. The wave displacement at any subsequent point is the sum of these
secondary waves. When waves are added together, their sum is determined by the relative phases
as well as the amplitudes of the individual waves so that the summed amplitude of the waves can
have any value between zero and the sum of the individual amplitudes. Hence, diffraction
patterns usually have a series of maxima and minima.
There are various analytical models which allow the diffracted field to be calculated, including
the Kirchoff-Fresnel diffraction equation which is derived from wave equation, the Fraunofer
diffraction approximation of the Kirchhoff equation which applies to the far field and the Fresnel
diffraction approximation which applies to the near field. Most configurations cannot be solved
analytically, but can yield numerical solutions through finite element and boundary element
methods.
It is possible to obtain a qualitative understanding of many diffraction phenomena by considering
how the relative phases of the individual secondary wave sources vary, and in particular, the
conditions in which the phase difference equals half a cycle in which case waves will cancel one
another out.
The simplest descriptions of diffraction are those in which the situation can be reduced to a two-
dimensional problem. For water waves, this is already the case; water waves propagate only on
the surface of the water. For light, we can often neglect one direction if the diffracting object
extends in that direction over a distance far greater than the wavelength. In the case of light
shining through small circular holes we will have to take into account the full three dimensional
nature of the problem.
Effect of diffraction of waves:
Speed does not change
Frequency. does not change
Wavelength.. does not change
Amplitude decreases
If diffraction is due to mountain or a hill, Knife edge diffraction model is used to study the
properties of the diffracted ray, and if is due to a building, rounded surface diffraction model is
used.
Knife Edge diffraction model:
In EM wave propagation knife-edge effect or edge diffraction is a redirection by diffraction of

a portion of the incident radiation that strikes a well-defined obstacle such as a mountain range or
the edge of a building.
The knife-edge effect is explained by Hugyens- Fresnel principle which states that a well-defined
obstruction to an electromagnetic wave acts as a secondary source, and creates a new wave front.
This new wave front propagates into the geometric shadow area of the obstacle.
TROPOSPHERIC PROPAGATION:
The lowest part of the earths atmosphere is called the troposphere. Typically, the troposphere
extends from the surface of the earth to an altitude of approximately 9 km at the poles and 17 km
at the equator. This upper boundary is referred to as the tropopause and is defined as the point at
which the temperature in the atmosphere begins to increase with height. Within the troposphere,
the temperature is found to decrease with altitude at a rate of approximately 7o C per km . The
earths weather system is confined to the troposphere and the fluctuations in weather parameters
like temperature, pressure and humidity cause the refractive index of the air in this layer to vary
from one point to another. It is in this context that the troposphere assumes a vital role in the
propagation of radio waves at VHF (30-300 MHz) and UHF (300-3000 MHz) frequencies. The
meteorological conditions therefore influence the manner in which radio wave propagation
occurs in the troposphere both on a spatial and temporal scale.
Refractive Index, Refractivity and Modified Refractivity

[Transhorizon Radiowave Propagation due to Evaporation Ducting,The Effect of Tropospheric
Weather Conditions on VHF and UHF Radio Paths Over the Sea, S D Gunashekar, D R Siddle
and E M Warrington]
In general, the refractive index, n, of the troposphere decreases with altitude To simplify the
mathematics involved variations in the horizontal are neglected and horizontal homogeneity of
the refractive index of the troposphere is assumed in most discussions on this topic. A typical
value for n at sea level is 1.000350. A few s above sea level, this might decrease to a value such
as 1.000300. For all practical purposes, at this scale, this change in the refractive index is
negligibly small, with hardly any visible deviation. However, immediately above the surface of
the sea, it is often this small (but rapid) change in the refractive index profile that facilitates the
formation of meteorological phenomena called evaporation ducts.A convenient way of
expressing these unwieldy numbers is to use the concept of refractivity instead. Refractivity, N,
is defined as follows:
N = (n1)*106
So, for example, when n = 1.000350, N = 350.
A well-known approximation for refractivity N is given below
where P = total atmospheric pressure (in mb);
T = atmospheric temperature (in K);
e = water vapour pressure (in mb).
All three terms, P, T and e fall with height in an exponential manner, resulting in a corresponding
decrease in N with height. A standard atmosphere, therefore is one in which the refractivity
varies with altitude according to equation. Using Snells law, a radio ray projected into the
atmosphere will have to travel from a denser to rarer medium and will refract downwards
towards the surface of the earth. The curvature of the ray, however, will still be less than the
earths curvature. The gradient of refractivity in this case generally varies from 0 to 79 N-units
per kilo. When the refractivity gradient varies from 79 to 157 N-units per kilo, a super
refractive condition is said to prevail in the troposphere and the ray will refract downwards at a
rate greater than standard but less than the curvature of the earth . A refractivity gradient that is
even less than 157 N-units per kilo will result in a ray that refracts towards the earths surface
with a curvature that exceeds the curvature of the earth. This situation is referred to as trapping
and is of particular importance in the context of evaporation ducts. Finally, if the refractivity
gradient is greater than 0 N units per kilo, a sub refractive condition exists and a radio ray will
now refract upwards, away from the surface of the earth. Depending on the existing conditions in
the troposphere, a radio wave will undergo any of the types of refraction: sub refraction, standard
refraction, super refraction or trapping.Figure 1 illustrates the four refractive conditions
discussed above.
While dealing with radio propagation profiles, the curved radio rays are replaced with linear rays
for the purpose of geometric simplicity. To account for drawing radio rays as straight lines, the
earth radius has to be increased. The radius of this virtual sphere is known as the effective earth
radius and it is approximately equal to four-thirds the true radius of the earth (i.e. roughly 8500
km). A more classical form of representing n is that of modified refractivity, M. In this case, the
surface of the earth is represented by a flat plane and the radio rays are constituted by curves that
are determined by Snells law and the corresponding value of M at each point along the radio
link. The following is the expression for M
N + 0.157h,
where N = refractivity (in N-units), h = height above sea level (in s), a = radius of the earth (in s).
Formation of Evaporation Ducts

The air that is in immediate contact with the sea surface is saturated with water vapour (i.e. the
relative humidity is 100%). As the height increases, the water vapour pressure in the atmosphere
rapidly decreases until it reaches an ambient value at which it remains more or less static for a
further increase in height. Therefore, for the first few s above the surface of the sea, it is the
water vapour pressure, e, in the expression for N that dominates. This rapid decrease in e causes
a steep fall in N.
This is reflected in the modified refractivity, M, which also correspondingly decreases. (The
height term h, which increases, is more than offset by the rapidly decreasing N term). This
behaviour can be seen in the graph of h vs M
as that portion of the curve with a strong negative M gradient. Therefore, despite the fact that the
height h is increasing, it is the sharp fall in the water vapour pressure, e, that contributes to the
rapid decrease in M.
Once e has reached its ambient value at a given height, a further rise in altitude does not cause a
substantial change in the humidity of the troposphere. Thus, as h increases further, N decreases
more (since air pressure and temperature both decrease with height). But this decrease in N is
very small over large height increments. Consequently, despite a decreasing N term, it is the h
term that starts to dominate in the expression for M. Thus, M now gradually increases with
height, and can be seen as the portion of the curve that has a positive M gradient.
The point at which the M gradient changes from negative to positive is referred to as the
evaporation duct height (or thickness), and is a practical and realistic measure of the strength of
the evaporation duct.
Evaporation Ducts and the Troposphere

By virtue of their nature of formation, evaporation ducts are nearly permanent features over the
sea surface. Typically, the height of an evaporation duct is of the order of only a few s; however,
this can vary considerably with geographical location and changes in atmospheric parameters
such as humidity, air pressure and temperature. In the lower regions of the troposphere where the
earths weather is confined, these parameters do, in fact, fluctuate significantly. The turbulent
nature of the atmosphere contributes to its unpredictability and a variable atmosphere, in turn, is
one of the major causes of unreliable wireless communications. Depending on their location and
the prevailing climate, evaporation duct heights may vary from a few meters to few tens of
meters. Additionally, it is observed that calm sea conditions are more conducive for the creation
of ducts. As a consequence of sporadic meteorological phenomena, evaporation duct heights
undergo significant spatial and temporal variations. Evaporation ducts are weather-related
phenomena; their heights cannot easily be measured directly using instruments like
refractometers and radiosondes. At best, the height of an evaporation duct can be deduced from
the bulk meteorological parameters that are representative of the ongoing physical processes at
the air-sea boundary. The dependence of evaporation ducts on the physical structure of the
troposphere signifies that changing weather conditions can indeed result in alterations in radio
wave propagation.
Evaporation Ducts and Radio wave Propagation

Over the years, much research has been undertaken to explain the mechanism of radio wave
propagation in evaporation ducts. A key reason why evaporation ducts are so important for radio
communications is because they are often associated with enhanced signal strengths at receivers.
An evaporation duct can be regarded as a natural waveguide that steers the radio signal from the
transmitter to a receiver that may be situated well beyond the radio horizon. The drop in the
refractive index of the atmosphere within the first few meters above the surface of the sea causes
incident radio waves to be refracted towards the earth more than normal so that their radius of
curvature becomes less than or equal to that of the earths surface. The sudden change in the
atmospheres refractivity at the top of the duct causes the radio waves to refract back into the
duct, and when it comes in contact with the surface of the sea, it gets reflected upwards again.
The waves then propagate long ranges by means of successive reflections (refractions) from the
top of the duct and the surface of the earth.
Since the top of an evaporation duct is not solid (as in the case of an actual waveguide), there
will be a small but finite amount of energy leakage into the free space immediately above the
duct .However, despite this escape of energy, radio waves are still capable of travelling great
distances through the duct, with relatively small attenuation and path loss. The ducting effect
often results in radio signals reaching places that are beyond the radio horizon with improved
signal strengths. This naturally has far reaching implications on practical radio propagation
patterns. For this reason, evaporation ducts and their impact on radio wave propagation have
been studied extensively over the years. Numerous statistical models have been proposed to
describe evaporation ducts and compute the duct heights under different atmospheric conditions.
The presence of evaporation ducts might not always indicate enhanced signal strengths. For
instance, if there is an unwanted distant transmitter also located within the duct, then there is
always the possibility of the system under consideration being susceptible to signal interference
and interception. This is dependent on the location of the radio paths being investigated. Another
scenario that might arise is the interference between the various propagation modes that exist
within the evaporation duct itself. Depending on the separation of the transmitter and receiver
and the prevailing atmospheric conditions, there could be destructive interference between the
direct and reflected rays, the latter of which is comprised of the various multiple hop (one-hop,
two-hop, and so on) propagation modes. Additionally, signal degradation may also occur if there
is destructive interference between various modes that arrive at the receiver after refraction from
different heights in the troposphere. All these situations could possibly cause key problems in the
domain of cellular mobile communication systems in littoral regions. Thus, in addition to aiding
radio wave propagation, evaporation ducts could also be principal limiting factors in beyond line
of sight over-the-sea UHF propagation.
IONOSPHERE PROPAGATION
The ionosphere is a part of the upper atmosphere, from about 85 km to 600 km altitude,
comprising portions of the mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere, thermosphere
and exosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part
in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere. It has practical
importance because, among other functions, it influences radio wave Propagation to distant
places on the earth.
In a region extending from a height of about 90 km to over thousands of kms, most of the
molecules of the atmosphere are ionized by radiation from the Sun. This region is called the
ionosphere
At greater heights- intensity of ionizing radiation is very high, few molecules are available for
ionization, ionization density is low
As height decreases- more molecules are available due to reduced atmospheric pressure,
ionization density is higher (closer to the earth)
But as height decreases further, ionization density decreases though more molecules are
available since the energy in the ionizing radiation has been used up to create ions.
Hence, ionization is different at different heights above the earth and is affected by time of
day and solar activity
Ionospheric layers.
At night the F layer is the only layer of significant ionization present, while the ionization in the
E and D layers is extremely low. During the day, the D and E layers become much more heavily
ionized, as does the F layer, which develops an additional, weaker region of ionisation known as
the F1 layer. The F2 layer persists by day and night and is the region mainly responsible for the
refraction of radio waves.
D layer
The D layer is the innermost layer, 60 km to 90 km above the surface of the Earth. Ionization
here is due to Lyman series alpha hydrogen radiation at a of 121.5 nanometer (nm).. In addition,
with high solar activity hard X rays (wavelength < 1 nm) may ionize (N2, O2). During the
night cosmic rays produce a residual amount of ionization. Recombination is high in the D layer,
the net ionization effect is low, but loss of wave energy is great due to frequent collisions of the
electrons (about ten collisions every msec). As a result high-frequency (HF) radio waves are not
reflected by the D layer but suffer loss of energy therein. This is the main reason for absorption
of HF radio waves, particularly at 10 MHz and below, with progressively smaller absorption as
the frequency gets higher. The absorption is small at night and greatest about midday. The layer
reduces greatly after sunset; a small part remains due to galactic cosmic rays. A common
example of the D layer in action is the disappearance of distant AM broadcast band stations in
the daytime.
During solar proton events , ionization can reach unusually high levels in the DD--region over high
and polar latitudes. Such very rare eve
events
nts are known as Polar Cap Absorption (or PCA) events,
because the increased ionization significantly enhances the absorption of radio signals passing
through the region. In fact, absorption levels can increase by many tens of dB during intense
events, which is enough to absorb most (if not all) transpolar HF radio signal transmissions. Such
events typically last less than 24 to 48 hours.
E layer
The E layer is the middle layer, 90 km to 120 km above the surface of the Earth. Ionization is
due to soft X-ray (1-10 nm) and far ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation ionization of molecular
oxygen(O2). Normally, at oblique incidence, this layer can only reflect radio waves having
frequencies lower than about 10 MHz and may contribute a bit to absorption on frequencies
above. However, during intense Sporadic E events, the Es layer can reflect frequencies up to
50 MHz and higher. The vertical structure of the E layer is primarily determined by the
competing effects of ionization and recombination. At night the E layer rapidly disappears
because the primary source of ionization is no longer present. After sunset an increase in the
height of the E layer maximum increases the range to which radio waves can travel by reflection
from the layer.
Es
The Es layer (sporadic E-layer) is characterized by small, thin clouds of intense ionization, which
can support reflection of radio waves, rarely up to 225 MHz. Sporadic-E events may last for just
a few minutes to several hours. Sporadic E propagation makes radio amateurs very excited, as
propagation paths that are generally unreachable can open up. There are multiple causes of
sporadic-E that are still being pursued by researchers. This propagation occurs most frequently
during the summer months when high signal levels may be reached. The skip distances are
generally around 1,000 km (620 mi). Distances for one hop propagation can be as close as
900 km [500 miles] or up to 2,500 km (1,600 mi). Double-hop reception over 3,500 km
(2,200 mi) is possible.
F layer
The F layer or region, also known as the Appleton layer extends from about 200 km to more
than 500 km above the surface of Earth. It is the densest point of the ionosphere, which implies
signals penetrating this layer will escape into space. At higher altitudes the amount of oxygen
ions decreases and lighter ions such as hydrogen and helium become dominant, this layer is the
topside ionosphere . Here extreme ultraviolet (UV, 10100 nm) solar radiation ionizes atomic
oxygen. The F layer consists of one layer at night, but during the day, a deformation often forms
in the profile that is labeled F1. The F2 layer remains by day and night responsible for most
skywave propagation of radio waves, facilitating high frequency (HF, or shortwave ) radio
communications over long distances.
Day and night structure of ionosphere:
VARIATIONS IN THE IONOSPHERE [Integrated Publishing, Electrical Engineering

Training Series]
Because the existence of the ionosphere is directly related to radiations emitted from the sun, the
movement of the Earth about the sun or changes in the sun's activity will result in variations in
the ionosphere. These variations are of two general types:
(1) those which are more or less regular and occur in cycles and, therefore, can be predicted in
advance with reasonable accuracy, and
(2) those which are irregular as a result of abnormal behavior of the sun and, therefore, cannot be
predicted in advance. Both regular and irregular variations have important effects on radio wave
propagation.
Regular Variations
The regular variations that affect the extent of ionization in the ionosphere can be divided into
four main classes: daily, seasonal, 11-year, and 27-day variations.
DAILY. - Daily variations in the ionosphere are a result of the 24-hour rotation of the Earth
about its axis. Daily variations of the different layers (fig. 2-14) are summarized as follows:
The D layer reflects VLF waves; is important for long range VLF communications; refracts lf
and mf waves for short range communications; absorbs HF waves; has little effect on vhf and
above; and disappears at night. In the E layer, ionization depends on the angle of the sun. The E
layer refracts HF waves during the day up to 20 megahertz to distances of about 1200 miles.
Ionization is greatly reduced at night. Structure and density of the F region depend on the time of
day and the angle of the sun. This region consists of one layer during the night and splits into two
layers during daylight hours.
Ionization density of the F1 layer depends on the angle of the sun.
Its main effect is to absorb hf waves passing through to the F2 layer.
The F2 layer is the most important layer for long distance HF communications.
It is a very variable layer and its height and density change with time of day, season, and sunspot
activity.
SEASONAL. - Seasonal variations are the result of the Earth revolving around the sun; the
relative position of the sun moves from one hemisphere to the other with changes in seasons.
Seasonal variations of the D, E, and F1 layers correspond to the highest angle of the sun; thus the
ionization density of these layers is greatest during the summer. The F2 layer, however, does not
follow this pattern; its ionization is greatest in winter and least in summer, the reverse of what
might be expected. As a result, operating frequencies for F2 layer propagation are higher in the
winter than in the summer.
ELEVEN-YEAR SUN SPOT CYCLE. - One of the most notable phenomena on the surface of
the sun is the appearance and disappearance of dark, irregularly shaped areas known as
SUNSPOTS. The exact nature of sunspots is not known, but scientists believe they are caused by
violent eruptions on the sun and are characterized by unusually strong magnetic fields. These
sunspots are responsible for variations in the ionization level of the ionosphere. Sunspots can, of
course, occur unexpectedly, and the life span of individual sunspots is variable; however, a
regular cycle of sunspot activity has also been observed. This cycle has both a minimum and
maximum level of sunspot activity that occur approximately every 11 years.
During periods of maximum sunspot activity, the ionization density of all layers increases.
Because of this, absorption in the D layer increases and the critical frequencies for the E, F1, and
F2 layers are higher. At these times, higher operating frequencies must be used for long distance
communications.
27-DAY SUNSPOT CYCLE. - The number of sunspots in existence at any one time is
continually subject to change as some disappear and new ones emerge. As the sun rotates on its
own axis, these sunspots are visible at 27-day intervals, the approximate period required for the
sun to make one complete rotation.
The 27-day sunspot cycle causes variations in the ionization density of the layers on a day-to-day
basis. The fluctuations in the F2 layer are greater than for any other layer. For this reason, precise
predictions on a day-to-day basis of the critical frequency of the F2 layer are not possible. In
calculating frequencies for long-distance communications, allowances for the fluctuations of the
F2 layer must be made.
Irregular Variations
Irregular variations in ionospheric conditions also have an important effect on radio wave
propagation. Because these variations are irregular and unpredictable, they can drastically affect
communications capabilities without any warning.
The more common irregular variations are sporadic E, sudden ionospheric disturbances, and
ionospheric storms.
SPORADIC E. - Irregular cloud-like patches of unusually high ionization, called sporadic E,

often form at heights near the normal E layer. Exactly what causes this phenomenon is not
known, nor can its occurrence be predicted. It is known to vary significantly with latitude, and in
the northern latitudes, it appears to be closely related to the aurora borealis or northern lights.
At times the sporadic E is so thin that radio waves penetrate it easily and are returned to earth by
the upper layers. At other times, it extends up to several hundred miles and is heavily ionized.
These characteristics may be either harmful or helpful to radio wave propagation. For example,
sporadic E may blank out the use of higher, more favorable ionospheric layers or cause
additional absorption of the radio wave at some frequencies. Also, it can cause additional
multipath problems and delay the arrival times of the rays of rf energy.
On the other hand, the critical frequency of the sporadic E is very high and can be greater than
double the critical frequency of the normal ionospheric layers. This condition may permit the
long distance transmission of signals at unusually high frequencies. It may also permit short
distance communications to locations that would normally be in the skip zone.
The sporadic E can form and disappear in a short time during either the day or night. However, it
usually does not occur at the same time at all transmitting or receiving stations.
SUDDEN IONOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES. - The most startling of the ionospheric

irregularities is known as a SUDDEN IONOSPHERIC DISTURBANCE (SID). These
disturbances may occur without warning and may prevail for any length of time, from a few
minutes to several hours. When SID occurs, long distance propagation of hf radio waves is
almost totally "blanked out." The immediate effect is that radio operators listening on normal
frequencies are inclined to believe their receivers have gone dead.
When SID has occurred, examination of the sun has revealed a bright solar eruption. All stations
lying wholly, or in part, on the sunward side of the Earth are affected. The solar eruption
produces an unusually intense burst of ultraviolet light, which is not absorbed by the F2, F1, and
E layers, but instead causes a sudden abnormal increase in the ionization density of the D layer.
As a result, frequencies above 1 or 2 megahertz are unable to penetrate the D layer and are
usually completely absorbed by the layer.
IONOSPHERIC STORMS. - Ionospheric storms are disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field.
They are associated, in a manner not fully understood, with both solar eruptions and the 27-day
intervals, thus corresponding to the rotation of the sun.
Scientists believe that ionospheric storms result from particle radiation from the sun. Particles
radiated from a solar eruption have a slower velocity than ultraviolet light waves produced by the
eruption. This would account for the 18-hour or so time difference between a sid and an
ionospheric storm. An ionospheric storm that is associated with sunspot activity may begin
anytime from 2 days before an active sunspot crosses the central meridian of the sun until four
days after it passes the central meridian. At times, however, active sunspots have crossed the
central region of the sun without any ionospheric storms occurring. Conversely, ionospheric
storms have occurred when there were no visible spots on the sun and no preceding SID. As you
can see, some correlation between ionospheric storms, sid, and sunspot activity is possible, but
there are no hard and fast rules. Ionospheric storms can occur suddenly without warning.
The most prominent effects of ionospheric storms are a turbulent ionosphere and very erratic sky
wave propagation. Critical frequencies are lower than normal, particularly for the F2 layer.
Ionospheric storms affect the higher F2 layer first, reducing its ion density. Lower layers are not
appreciably affected by the storms unless the disturbance is great. The practical effect of
ionospheric storms is that the range of frequencies that can be used for communications on a
given circuit is much smaller than normal, and communications are possible only at the lower
working frequencies.

Antennas and Wave Propagation

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Antennas and Wave Propagation

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Smartworld.asia Specworld.

Wire Antennas- dipoles, loops and Helical

L = Length of the current element in meters

Transmission line opened out in a Tapered fashion as Antenna:

b) As Receiving Antenna Active radiation by other Antenna or Passive radiation from

Reciprocity-An antenna exhibits identical impedance during Transmission or Reception,

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 2

same in different directions.) Antennas are usually optimised for reception or

Radiation pattern or Antenna pattern is defined as the spatial distribution of a

Normalized Power Pattern =

Pattern in spherical co-ordinate system

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 4

Pattern in Cartesian co-ordinate system

Beam area or Beam solid angle A

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 5

By defnition of solid angle ds = r 2 d

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 6

Directivity and Gain

The directivity is a dimensionless quantity. The maximum directivity is always 1

Directivity and Beam area

Aperture Concept: Aperture of an Antenna is the area through which the

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 9

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 10

Effective Aperture and Beam area: Consider an Antenna with an effective

Assuming a uniform field Er in far field at a distance r, Power Radiated is

At a given wavelength if Effective Aperture is known, Beam area can be

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 11

The effective height is another parameer related to the apertures.

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 12

For an antenna of radiation resistance Rr matched to itd load , power

Bandwidth or frequency bandwidth

Based on Bandwidth antennas can be classified as

The characteristics such as Zi, G, Polarization etc of antenna does not

Total antenna resistance is the sum of 5 components

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 15

For a temperature distribution T( , ) and radiation pattern R( , ) of the

The noise power PTA received from an antenna at temperature TA can be

Antenna Field Zones

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 16

Fig: Radiation from a dipole

1.Reactive near-field region: This is the region immediately surrounding

ANTENNA & PROPAGATION(06EC64)-Unit 1 17

Point sources and Arrays

Unit 2 - Point Sources and Arrays

The radiation pattern of antenna is a representation (pictorial or

Arathi R Shankar,Associate Professor, Dept of E&C, BMSCE , Blore Page 1

Point sources and Arrays

It is clear in Figures a and b that in some very specific directions there

Pattern lobe is a portion of the radiation pattern with a local maximum

Arathi R Shankar,Associate Professor, Dept of E&C, BMSCE , Blore Page 2

Point sources and Arrays

Pattern lobes and beam widths

Usually, the pattern describes the normalized field (power) values

Arathi R Shankar,Associate Professor, Dept of E&C, BMSCE , Blore Page 3

Point sources and Arrays

Antenna radiation pattern is 3-dimensional. The 3-D plot of antenna

Arathi R Shankar,Associate Professor, Dept of E&C, BMSCE , Blore Page 4

Point sources and Arrays

First figure shows radiation intensity of a source and second figure is

A point source is a radiator that has dimensions of a point in space.

Arathi R Shankar,Associate Professor, Dept of E&C, BMSCE , Blore Page 5

Point sources and Arrays

Arathi R Shankar,Associate Professor, Dept of E&C, BMSCE , Blore Page 6

Point sources and Arrays

Phase difference =d/2cos=2/d/2*cos

= propagation constant i.e: 1/2dcos